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http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/06/chinese-workers-hold-ameri
Chinese workers hold American boss hostage in Beijing
BEIJING (AP) - Chinese workers keeping an American executive confined to his
Beijing medical supply factory said Tuesday that they had not been paid in
two months in a compensation dispute that highlights tensions in China's
labor market.
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The executive, Chip Starnes of Specialty Medical Supplies, denied the
workers' allegations of two months of unpaid wages, as he endured a fifth
day of captivity at the plant in the capital's northeastern suburbs, peering
out from behind the bars of his office window.
About 100 workers are demanding back pay and severance packages identical to
those offered 30 workers being laid off from the Coral Springs, Florida-
based company's plastics division. The demands followed rumors that the
entire plant was being closed, despite Starnes' assertion that the company
doesn't plan to fire the others.
The dispute highlights general tensions in China's labor market as bosses
worry about rising wages and workers are on edge about the impact of slowing
growth on the future of their jobs.
Inside one of the plant's buildings, about 30 mostly women hung around,
their arms crossed. One worker, Gao Ping, told reporters inside an
administrative office in the plant that she wanted to quit because she hadn'
t been paid for two months.
Dressed in blue overalls and sitting down at a desk, Gao said 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.
Workers in other divisions saw how badly her division was doing, thought the
whole company was faring poorly and also wanted to quit and get
compensation, said Gao, who had been working for the company for six years.
Starnes, 42, denied that they were owed unpaid salary.
"They are demanding full severance pay, but they still have a job. That's
the problem," he said, still in the clothes he wore when he went to work
Friday morning.
Chu Lixiang, a local union official representing the workers in talks with
Starnes, said the workers were demanding the portion of their salaries yet
to be paid and a "reasonable" level of compensation before leaving their
jobs. Neither gave details on the amounts demanded.
Chu said workers believed the plant was closing and that Starnes would run
away without paying severance. Starnes' attorney arrived Tuesday afternoon.
Chu later told reporters that there would be no negotiations for the rest of
the day.
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 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 governments have at times barred foreign
executives from leaving until they are resolved.
Starnes said the company had gradually been winding down its plastics
division, planning to move it to Mumbai, India. He arrived in Beijing a week
ago to lay off the last 30 people. Some had been working there for up to
nine years, so their compensation packages were "pretty nice," he said. Then
workers in other divisions started demanding similar severance packages on
Friday, he said.
Kevin Jones, who advises U.S. companies on Chinese labor and employment law,
said it is better if American executives stay at home and let their local
managers lay off workers.
In a case last week, Jones said the chief financial officer of a U.S.
telecommunications equipment maker wanted to come to Beijing to explain the
situation and give 41 white-collar workers their termination notices.
"We told him to stay in America," said Jones, who chairs the Shanghai-based
Faegre Baker Daniels labor and employment practice. The company's lawyers
met with six employee representatives in a hotel. "We had two bodyguards but
that was just in case things got out of control," Jones said.
Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China,
said Chinese labor law specified a minimum severance pay in the event of a
layoff due to economic necessity or if someone is dismissed due to cause,
but not a maximum one.
"There is a kind of structural weakness in the way the labor law is set up
that leads to negotiations and disputes when departures occur," Murck said. |
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