Labor disputes skyrocket in Beijing

About 80,000 workers had been involved in disputes with their employers by the end of November, double the number of last year, a senior official of the Beijing trade union said.

The city's arbitration committee has received more than 70,000 labor disputes cases this year, and many involved more than one employee.

There were 26,000 disputes during the same period in 2007 and 49,000 in 2008, said Zhang Hengshun, director of law department of Beijing municipal federation of trade union.