Auto Workers Protest Unpaid Wages/Manager Pay

["Nathan Newman" <nathan.newman@xxxxxxxx>]

Labor protests have been accellerating across China.  The suppression of
labor rights in the country is increasing and is likely to be a large part
of the debate on the China deal. -- Nathan
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1,500 Auto Workers Protest in China
Source: The Associated Press
Published: Monday, Dec. 13, 1999

BEIJING ?? About 1,500 auto factory workers blocked traffic in the western
city of Chengdu on Monday to protest corruption and the factory's failure to
pay them promised stipends, a right group said.

Police detained two protesters, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of
Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said in a statement. The
protesters dispersed peacefully after four hours, the group said.

The state-owned factory closed in May because of financial problems and for
two months has not paid workers a $23 monthly subsistence stipend, the
Information Center said. Protesters complained that factory leaders had
squandered the company's money on expensive private houses for themselves.

Similar protests have sprung up around the country as workers take to the
streets to demand pay and pensions from companies that claim to be too broke
to pay them.