Resolved Incident
Yue Yuen shoe factory strike, Dongguan
View on map Part of: Dongguan Yue Yuen shoe factory strike, 2014
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Workers at the Yue Yuen Industrial shoe complex in Dongguan, which makes footwear for Nike, Adidas and other brands, began striking on 5 April 2014 against underpaid social insurance and housing fund contributions and improper labour contracts. Reuters reported on 15 April 2014 that thousands had rejected an improved benefits offer, making it one of the largest strikes in China in recent years. Most of the workforce returned to work around 25-26 April 2014 after the company conceded on some demands and local authorities ordered it to rectify its practices, though labour rights workers who advised the strikers were detained.
- Workers involved
- 40,000 (estimated)
- Outcome
- Partial – Company and union sources agree most workers returned by 25-26 April 2014 after Yue Yuen conceded some core demands; CNBC (a Reuters copy) reports the company saying more than 80 per cent were back at work. Worker counts range from 30,000 (RFA) to 40,000 (ChinaFile, CNBC); activists claimed up to 50,000. Labour rights staff advising the strikers were detained, and China Worker reports key demands unmet and a return under pressure.
- Issues
- Contract Status, Living Wage, Social Security, Violence / Repression
Sources
- China's Yue Yuen shoe factory workers in large strikeBBC News
- Labor Activists Held As China's Shoe Factory Strike ContinuesRadio Free Asia
- Government Steps Up To Labor's DemandsChinaFile
- China intervenes in strike at Yue Yuen shoe factoryTaipei Times
- Statement on large strike at the Yue Yuen shoe factoryChina Labor Watch
- Massive China shoe factory strike rolls on as offer falls flatReuters
- Yue Yuen counts cost of China shoe strikeCNBC (Reuters)
- China: Repression and arrests used to end Yue Yuen strikeChina Worker