US executive held captive by workers in pay dispute
Source: Agencies |
June 26, 2013, Wednesday
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A US executive held captive by workers in his Beijing factory since Friday said the dispute that has kept him behind the plant's barred windows was a misunderstanding over pay.
Chip Starnes, president of Florida-based Speciality Medical Supplies, said about 100 workers were demanding severance packages identical to those offered to 30 employees laid off by the company's plastics division, which was moved to India to lower production costs.
The workers' demands followed rumors that the plant was being closed, though Starnes said no more layoffs were planned.
"We never had that intention. They were never told they were going to lose their jobs," Starnes said.
"It (the rumor) ran rampant and quickly spiraled out of control. It's a sad situation."
Starnes said he was never physically harmed but had been intimidated, and was unhappy about the way local authorities had handled the dispute.
Plainclothes police
"I think disappointment is a really good word," the 42-year-old said from a window of the factory in the Beijing suburb of Huairou where the firm has been operating for nearly a decade.
A number of plainclothes police officers could be seen outside the factory compound. Authorities said they were in place to maintain order, though they had not acted to end the stand-off.
Starnes said his lawyers were in talks with the workers with mediation from the district labor administration and labor union. Chu Lixiang, head of the Huairou labor union's rights and interests department, said Starnes had not paid the workers for two months and they feared the plant was closing and that he would run away without paying severance.
"The workers' request, firstly, will be for the company to pay up. Second, they (the managers) need to abide by the law, to deliver compensation as deserved. That's all," Chu said.
A worker, Gao Ping, told reporters she wanted to quit because she hadn't been paid for two months.
Dressed in blue overalls and sitting at a desk, Gao said that her division - which makes alcohol prep pads, used for cleaning skin before injections - had not been doing well and that she wanted her salary and compensation.
"We just ask that our boss pays our salary and the labor compensation we deserve," said Gao, an employee for six years.
Starnes said that since Saturday morning, about 80 workers had been blocking every exit around the clock and depriving him of sleep by shining bright lights and banging on the windows of his office.
The standoff points to long-ingrained habits among Chinese workers who are sometimes left unprotected when factories close without severance or wages owed.
Such incidents have been rarer as labor protections improve, although disputes still occur and local authorities have at times barred foreign executives from leaving until they are resolved.
Chip Starnes, president of Florida-based Speciality Medical Supplies, said about 100 workers were demanding severance packages identical to those offered to 30 employees laid off by the company's plastics division, which was moved to India to lower production costs.
The workers' demands followed rumors that the plant was being closed, though Starnes said no more layoffs were planned.
"We never had that intention. They were never told they were going to lose their jobs," Starnes said.
"It (the rumor) ran rampant and quickly spiraled out of control. It's a sad situation."
Starnes said he was never physically harmed but had been intimidated, and was unhappy about the way local authorities had handled the dispute.
Plainclothes police
"I think disappointment is a really good word," the 42-year-old said from a window of the factory in the Beijing suburb of Huairou where the firm has been operating for nearly a decade.
A number of plainclothes police officers could be seen outside the factory compound. Authorities said they were in place to maintain order, though they had not acted to end the stand-off.
Starnes said his lawyers were in talks with the workers with mediation from the district labor administration and labor union. Chu Lixiang, head of the Huairou labor union's rights and interests department, said Starnes had not paid the workers for two months and they feared the plant was closing and that he would run away without paying severance.
"The workers' request, firstly, will be for the company to pay up. Second, they (the managers) need to abide by the law, to deliver compensation as deserved. That's all," Chu said.
A worker, Gao Ping, told reporters she wanted to quit because she hadn't been paid for two months.
Dressed in blue overalls and sitting at a desk, Gao said that her division - which makes alcohol prep pads, used for cleaning skin before injections - had not been doing well and that she wanted her salary and compensation.
"We just ask that our boss pays our salary and the labor compensation we deserve," said Gao, an employee for six years.
Starnes said that since Saturday morning, about 80 workers had been blocking every exit around the clock and depriving him of sleep by shining bright lights and banging on the windows of his office.
The standoff points to long-ingrained habits among Chinese workers who are sometimes left unprotected when factories close without severance or wages owed.
Such incidents have been rarer as labor protections improve, although disputes still occur and local authorities have at times barred foreign executives from leaving until they are resolved.
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