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Workers mass at Shanghai factory in latest unrest

Source:?December ?02, ?2011 | Associate Release Date:2011-12-07 503
Medical Equipment
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By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer

SHANGHAI (AP) — China is seeing a fresh upsurge in labor unrest as slowing demand for its exports in Europe and the U.S. hits manufacturers already juggling tight credit and weakening growth at home.

In one of the latest labor actions by restive young Chinese workers, hundreds of laid-off factory staff gathered Friday outside a Shanghai factory of a Singaporean supplier to major consumer electronics companies such as Motorola and HP.

Some workers said they were beaten by police earlier during the protests — one showed bruises on his forehead.

Reports of recent strikes at factories and other major employers, especially in southern China, reflect increasing pressure on Chinese manufacturers already grappling with surging costs for labor and materials. The country's manufacturing contracted in November for the first time in nearly three years, according to a survey released Thursday.

This week, Beijing began reversing its two-year effort to cool the world's second-biggest economy as worries that slowdowns in factory production and property overshadow longer-term efforts to tame inflation and temper China's excessive reliance on investment as a driver of growth.

In recent months, troubles with financing have stalked both the construction and manufacturing sectors, as factories and even the powerful Railway Ministry ran short of cash. Migrant workers often ended up with delayed or unpaid wages.

The 300-400 workers at the factory gate of Hi-P International in the eastern industrial suburbs of Shanghai said it was their third day of protesting over mass layoffs due to the company's decision to relocate some manufacturing.

They said they were seeking more information, and improved terms for themselves.

"We all work for this company, and now if the company is going to move, they owe us an explanation. So we are waiting for a solution," said Chang Yan, a woman in her mid-20s who like most of the others was wearing a blue factory jacket embossed with a red Hi-P logo.

The workers, who said they were from various regions outside Shanghai, also accused the factory of violating labor standards.

"Sometimes, they ask us to work 18 or 19 hours in a day. Sometimes the overtime is evenBrowse All Brands

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