Teachers strike in Chengdu

By Huang Zhiling and Wang Wei (China Daily Sichuan Bureau)
Updated: 2009-11-09 13:45

CHENGDU: Hundreds of teachers from private high schools in this western city in China called a strike this week to protest low salaries and deplorable working conditions.

On Thursday afternoon, teachers at the Chengdu Foreign Languages School, owned by the Chengdu-based Derui Group, had a meeting with Yan Yude, chairman of the group, who is in this year's list of the richest men in China.

After asking for a pay raise, Yan offered the teachers an increase of 1,000 yuan ($147) per month for the average teacher. The teachers rejected Yan's offer, however, saying many State-owned schools in the city had recently given their teachers a monthly pay raise of 3,000 yuan per month, said a teacher surnamed Ma, a renowned English teacher in the city.

Yan said the teachers should go ahead and resign, and that he was not scared of their threats because he had thousands of potential teachers to choose from for his school. His wife, Wang Xiaoying, who was also at the meeting, snatched the microphone from Wang and cursed at the teachers, saying they cared only for money and were not fit to have teaching jobs.

The couple refused to apologize to the teachers, and Wang uttered more profanities at them. Yan threatened the teachers that they would have to "bear all the consequences" of their petition.

The confrontation prompted about 400 teachers to strike at around 2 pm.

Students left their classrooms in the evening to stage a protest, chanting slogans in support of their teachers.

School authorities asked the students' parents to keep their children at home the next day "due to a special reason", Ma said.

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