Riot halts production at Maersk container factory in China
Maersk Container Industri’s factory in Dongguan, southern China, had to be shut down earlier this week after hundreds of workers rioted after a colleague was beaten by security guards for jumping a queue in the canteen.
According to a report by Radio Free Asia, migrant worker Zhao Hongwei was attacked after he refused to pay a fine of 200 yuan for jumping the barrier at lunchtime.
Zhao, who was taken to hospital by police along with an injured security guard, said the workers had been angry with management for a long time over pay cuts, longer hours and demands for greater productivity.
When police left, workers started attacking the main administrative building and smashed windows with bricks. Local reports suggested that the security guards’ office living quarters were set on fire. The riot lasted into the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Maersk Container Industri said the factory partly reopened on Thursday. “Maersk Container Industri is cooperating with local authorities to resolve remaining matters and management is in dialogue with employee representatives with a view to address causes of the incident and to recommence full scale production,” the Danish company said in a statement.
“The relationship with the firm rendering security services to Maersk Container Industri Dongguan has been discontinued as the actions of its representatives have been found irreconcilable with the standards of behavior expected by Maersk Container Industri.”
Riot halts production at Maersk container factory in China
