Description

From Boxun:

广东珠海市一家制鞋厂几千名工人罢工，数百人走上街头，抗议降低工资和恶劣的劳动条件。在纽约的中国劳工观察组织有消息说，广东珠海市美星制鞋公司的几千名工人本星期一和星期二罢工两天，抗议厂方无故降低工资。几百名工人还走上街头，希望引起社会关注。

据悉，珠海美星是台资企业信兴集团的下属公司，有员工1万4千人。中国劳工观察上个月对美星鞋厂的调查报告，列举了该厂违反劳动法规和侵害工人权益的行为，包括每周高达81个小时的工作时间，加班工资低于正常工资、使用有毒化学制剂损害工人健康，以及辱骂殴打工人等。

但另据报道，美星公司一名台湾籍主管表示，罢工游行只进行了一个多小时，就被当局和公安部门处理平息；美星员工每周工作不超过60小时，有加班工资

From CLB:

On July 4 and 5, 2005, nearly 1,000 workers at the Meixing Shoe Company in Zhuhai, Guangdong went on strike to protest management’s lowering of their wages. Work hours at the factory were as high as 81 hours per week, but overtime payments were less than regular wages. Workers received no paid vacation, maternity leave, or health insurance. Workers had conducted strikes on two other occasions, in April of 2004 and May of 2005.

[Note: The original CLW report that CLB cites is no longer online].