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Workers block road to protest against unpaid wages

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-14 14:59

CHONGQING - More than 400 workers blocked a road in a protest over unpaid wages in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

The workers from Jindi Industry Group Co., a state-owned textile company, again started to gather and block a main road in front of the company compound in Fuling, a district of Chongqing, around 8 a.m. said a worker surnamed Zhou from the hemp textile mill with Jindi.

The protest disrupted traffic.  By midday, most of the workers dispersed for lunch, with 100 or so still on the road.

Earlier, at 9 p.m. Monday, 300 or so workers blocked the same road connecting Fuling and Fengdu, a suburban county of Chongqing, .

But they soon gave up and returned home at 10 p.m. after the road block failed because of low traffic volume at night, said Zhou.

Zhou said the protest was meant to attract government attention because many of the workers had not been paid for the past three months.

Zhou's monthly salary is 380 yuan (about $56), which is much lower than the 560 yuan minimum salary standard in Fuling.

"Without the meagre salary, my life becomes even more difficult," said Zhou.

The company officials could not be reached for comment on the protest of Monday and Tuesday.

The Chinese textile industry has been hard hit since last year as demands for China-made textile products fall sharply amid the global downturn.

The Jindi Industry Group Co., set up in 1982, has a workforce of more than 6,500.

An official of Fuling District government, said Jindi could not afford workers' salaries. He added that the district government was considering paying workers' unpaid wages on behalf of Jindi to aid living conditions on the part of the workers.