Workers block road in pay dispute
By Wen Fang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-17 05:45

GUANGZHOU: More than 300 workers at a shoe company in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, completely blocked a highway for more than an hour on Saturday morning after their boss disappeared still owing them three months' wages.

Riot police cleared the barriers set up by the protesters on the highway, which is close to the factory in the village of Wanggang, Baiyun District. Government departments are investigating the case, reported the Guangzhou-based News Express newspaper.

Representatives from the local labour department, neighbourhood committee and village administration also went to the site to investigate.

The workers blocked all six lanes of the 106 National Highway with benches and stopped some drivers who tried to force their way through.

Employees say they have not received any pay since July, except for about 500 yuan (US$62) before the National Day holiday earlier this month.

The firm's boss and other senior managers disappeared from the company on Friday. Their mobile phones were switched off. The boss, surnamed Wu, declared in a fax sent to the company on Friday afternoon that the factory was bankrupt.

Founded in the early 1990s in partnership with the village administration, the company now only has about 300 workers.

The workers estimate the company owes them 1.5 million yuan (US$185,000) in unpaid wages.

The dispute comes at a time when governments at various levels are stepping up efforts to protect workers' interests.

(China Daily 10/17/2005 page3)