Hundreds of striking workers at an electronics plant in Shanghai vowed last night to continue their protest for a seventh day after talks with the Singaporean management failed.
The workers, mostly women, have been picketing the Hi-P International plant in east Shanghai's Jinqiao industrial zone since Wednesday over plans to relocate the factory to the outskirts of the city.
'We work long shifts, sometimes over 20 hours. Even with a company shuttle bus, the new factory will mean an hour and a half's travelling every day, so we won't have any time left to rest,' said one worker from Sichuan. 'Most of us have been working at this factory for many years, so we should be properly compensated if they want to break our contracts.'
The at times rowdy strikers shouted and jeered as company officials tried to placate them late in the afternoon after nearly six hours of negotiations with workers' representatives.
'Pay us money, pay us money,' they chanted as one executive attempted to explain transport arrangements for the new site.
The dispute is the latest in a wave of industrial action taking place in parts of the mainland and comes shortly after street cleaners in Nanjing downed tools last month.
In a sign of the authorities' jitters about unrest breaking out, there were at least three vans filled with uniformed and plain-clothes police parked near the factory. However, there were no reports of clashes.