Workers at Taiwan firm in Vietnam strike for minimum wage

Oct 19, 2011, 5:38 GMT

Hanoi - More than 6,000 workers at a Taiwan-owned shoemaker in southern Vietnam went on strike to demand better wages, authorities said Wednesday.

The employees at Chi Hung Footwear Co, which provides outsourcing for Germany's Adidas AG, want pay in line with a new minimum wage set by the government, said Huynh Van Huong, police chief in Thai Hoa commune, Binh Duong province, where the company is based.

As of October 1, the government raised the minimum wage in four regions in the country with monthly salaries varying from a minimum of 1.4 million dong (66 dollars) to 2 million dong. The new salary benchmarks are 300,000 dong and 650,000 dong higher than the previous levels.

However, the company did not implement the new levels, leading to the wildcat strike, which was in its ninth-consecutive day Wednesday Huong said.

The police chief said the strikers had destroyed security equipment at the company, thrown bricks at security guards and caused traffic jams while demonstrating on the road outside the company's front gate.

Provincial authorities were working to resolve the strike.

On Monday, more than 600 workers at the Minh Phu Seafood Co in the Mekong Delta went on strike to demand higher wages and protest company rules allowing them only two toilet breaks a day.

Workers returned to work Wednesday after the company satisfied their demands.

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