Shenzhen Workers Strike Against Long Hours and Low Pay

For more news visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com
Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Follow us on Facebook ☛ http://me.lt/9P8MUn

Workers at a computer parts factory were the latest to join a series of industrial actions in China's southern manufacturing centers. The strike on Tuesday involved more than a thousand workers in the city of Shenzhen. It shows how tension is growing between workers and management, as Chinese manufacturers react to a cooling global economy.

China's manufacturing hub continues to be hit by strikes over pay disputes. On Tuesday, more than one thousand workers in the southern city of Shenzhen stopped work at a computer parts factory, demanding higher pay and improved working conditions.

Jingmo Electronics Technology is a Taiwanese owned factory, and makes parts for tech companies like Apple and IBM. Workers say they went on strike after management asked them to work long overtime hours during the week, but stopped weekend work that usually pays double.

Authorities deployed riot police to contain the workers as they poured into nearby streets.

[Nearby Business Owner]:
"I didn't quite know what was going on. I just saw a lot of police here and safety patrol. I hear there was a strike. The workers are complaining about low wages, and the lack of overtime pay."

Office staff told us on Wednesday that workers have returned to work.

The strike is the latest industrial action in Guangdong Province, home to China's major manufacturing centers. Falling international orders have promoted factory owners to cut costs, through reducing workers' overtime pay, or relocating to inland areas where labor is cheaper. Workers, who've already complained about low pay and poor working conditions, did not welcome the move.