Production resumed at a South Korean electronics factory in Nanjing late yesterday afternoon after management reached a deal with workers who had been on strike for three days over year-end bonuses.
Hundreds of police were on guard and dozens of police vehicles lined the road outside the huge LG Display plant in an industrial zone on the northeastern edge of the city, but there were no signs of protest inside the factory gates.
China Labour Watch and online postings said about 8,000 workers downed tools at the plant on Monday following rumours that Korean staff were being given bonuses equal to 6 1/2 months' pay, while local staff were to receive just one extra month's salary.
Factory management said operations resumed at 4pm yesterday after the company agreed to double the bonus for Chinese staff.
The strike is the latest in a series of labour disputes to hit factories on the mainland over the past two months, starting with plants in Guangdong and spreading to the Yangtze River Delta.
The heavy police presence in Nanjing yesterday is a reflection of the authorities' intense nervousness about social tensions and public unrest in the face of a bleak outlook for the global economy.
Industry figures privately warn that the mainland's credit shortage is likely to lead to more disputes in the immediate future. Construction workers are expected to bear the brunt if cash-strapped developers default on wages and bonus payments ahead of next month's Lunar New Year break.