Workers clash with police in mass protest at Chinese Covid test kit plant
- Footage and accounts posted online appear to show conflict in Chongqing factory
- Some accounts say demonstration is related to wages while others attribute it lay-offs
Retrenched workers appear to have clashed with riot police at a pharmaceutical plant in China’s southwest on the weekend, according to footage and posts on Chinese social media.
One video showed people throwing traffic cones, boxes and stools at police carrying riot shields, Reuters reported, while another video showed dozens of protesters chanting “return our money”.
According to social media accounts, the protest erupted in Chongqing on Saturday after workers were laid off without notice at a plant in Dadukou district operated by Covid test kit manufacturer Zybio.
Some accounts said the protests were related to wages while others said they were about lay-offs.
One internet user who claimed to be a temporary worker at the factory said in an online post that workers were asked to leave the production line on Friday morning and assemble at a square, where they were told to leave early for their Lunar New Year holidays.
When asked about their wages, they were told they would be distributed within days but only to workers with a contract.