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SCMP Reporter

About 800 staff at a Korean-owned toy factory in Shenzhen returned to work yesterday after a day of industrial action.

However, workers said negotiations with management were continuing.

'Everybody is back at work. There will be more talks this evening,' said one worker. 'We're still not satisfied.'

The dispute at the Kaiming Toy Factory in Songgang township centres on overtime pay. According to a source close to the workers, the factory's Chinese manager ordered security staff to lock them in the factory after the industrial action started.

Workers subsequently called police, who arrived with officials from the labour bureau to intervene in the dispute.

Factory officials contacted yesterday declined to elaborate on the incident, saying only that it was a 'small matter' and that work had resumed.

Township police also declined to comment.

Such incidents are common in the Pearl River Delta region and can sometimes lead to violence. In June, a labour dispute at a Hong Kong-funded textile factory in Huizhou led to running battles between workers and security guards that left at least 63 people injured.

According to auditing sources who inspect supplier factories for overseas buyers, working conditions at Hong Kong, Korean and Taiwan-funded factories in the delta tend to be worse than their Western and Japanese counterparts, making them more likely to be the targets of work stoppages.

Guangdong labour laws specify that workers should only work 40 hours a week and be paid extra for any overtime.

Manufacturer associations have complained about the laws, saying they do not give them enough flexibility - especially when orders peak in the run-up to the Christmas buying season.



Factory in talks to settle pay row