2010 Suzhou workers riot

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2010 Suzhou workers riot (Chinese: 苏州联建事件) was an incident that occurred on January 15, 2010 in Suzhou, People's Republic of China involving workers dissatisfied with the company's treatment of its employees as well as compensation problems.

Background

The event took place at the Taiwan owned "United Win technology" company (联建科技) located at the Suzhou Industrial Park.[1] The company was built in 1999 as a mainland branch of the Taiwan company Wintek (胜华科技股份有限公司).[2] The company manufactures screens for devices for Apple Inc., Nokia, Motorola and many other companies. Apple iPhone screens is an important part of the business.[1]

Incident

For a long time the company had been suffering from poor management of staff, bonus compensation problems and poor catering services. In 2008 the company wide bonuses were canceled due to the economic down turn.[2] In 2009 a factory employee provided info to a reporter about being poisoned on the job. The company switched from the regularly used alcohol to a more toxic and dangerous ethane solvent. In September 2009 some employees came in contact with the chemicals.[3]

Also, according to a report of the 83 suppliers in China, 45 did not pay overtime costs to its employees. Another 23 suppliers were paying below the minimum wage.[3]

On January 15, 2009 at 8:45 to 9 am about 2000 factory workers gathered at the company and began destroying the factory properties.[2][4] The workers also blocked a road and threw stones at the police.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Chinadigitaltimes.net. "Chinadigitaltimes.net." Workers riot in Suzhou. Retrieved on 2010-01-16.
  2. ^ a b c USqiaobao.com. "USqiaobao.com Archived 2010-01-20 at the Wayback Machine." iPhone供应商苏州工厂2000员工暴动 特警出动 pg1. Retrieved on 2010-01-16.
  3. ^ a b USqiaobao.com. "USqiaobao.com." iPhone供应商苏州工厂2000员工暴动 特警出动 pg2. Retrieved on 2010-01-16.
  4. ^ Sina.com. "Sina.com Archived 2012-02-23 at the Wayback Machine." 蘇州台企聯建科技勞資糾紛事件平息 已恢複生產. Retrieved on 2010-01-16.
  5. ^ Xinhuanet.com. "Xinhuanet.com." Workers of Taiwan company protest over labor dispute . Retrieved on 2010-01-16.