Factory owner in eastern China pays workers in 290,000 bricks
But staff say they are still owed US$128,000 in unpaid wages
About 30 factory workers in eastern China who say they were owed more than 900,000 yuan (US$140,500) in unpaid wages have found themselves up against a brick wall – quite literally.
The owner of the brick factory in the city of Nanchang decided to pay his employees in bricks, some 290,000 of them, Jiangxi Daily reported on Sunday.
After getting nowhere with their employer, the workers had appealed to the local labour authority for help, according to the report.
The authority negotiated with the factory owner, who agreed to hand over the bricks – worth about 80,000 yuan – as part payment of the salaries owed.
The report did not say why the workers had not been paid, or whether they were satisfied with the “payment”.