Report: Chinese workers at LG factory strike over complaint of pay discrimination

Yahoo ^ | 12/28/11

[Libloather]

Report: Chinese workers at LG factory strike over complaint of pay discrimination
By The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – Wed, 28 Dec, 2011

BEIJING, China - Some 8,000 employees of a factory in China owned by a unit of South Korea's LG Corp. over complaints about pay discrimination, a labour group said Wednesday.

Chinese employees of the LG Display factory in Nanjing, west of Shanghai, walked off the job Monday over complaints Korean employees at the factory received annual bonuses equal to one year's salary while those for Chinese workers were equal to one month's pay, the New York-based group China Labor Watch said.

Employees at the factory hung up when reporters called.

China has faced a wave of protests over the past two years demanding higher pay and other benefits as rising living costs squeeze workers.

[Libloather]

This could affect your warranty.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Looking up the Korean word for Schadenfreude.

[Farmer Dean]

They just got busted for price fixing on their LCD panels too.

[Jonty30]

Well, guess who is in management.

It’s never a good idea to let anybody know how much you made or your bonuses.

This will likely show up in terms of the quality of the projects made.

[cloudmountain]

The government "allows" these protests.
Well, we DO know that if any company or group of protestors go too far we'll get to see the REAL power of China: the Red Army.

[Zhang Fei]

Communist leaders discourage independent labour activity but have allowed many recent protests, especially at foreign companies, as it prods employers to raise pay as part of efforts to boost consumer spending and reduce dependence on exports.

LG employees in Nanjing met with managers but rejected an offer to increase annual bonuses for Chinese employees to the equivalent of two months' pay, China Labor Watch said. It said they wanted "absolute equality in the bonus system."

Stuff like this is why foreign companies in China are always on pins and needles - they pay more than Chinese companies, but are continually having to deal with low-level harassment from the authorities even as Chinese companies literally get away with murder:

[WilliamofCarmichael]

8,000 protest conditions at foreign-owned enterprise
Right To Strike Key To China's Concern For Workers' Welfare

. . .

8,000 protest conditions at state-owned enterprise (SOE)
People's Armed Police Puts Count At 8,000 Dead

. . . .