[Buyemae]

Jun 9, 2010
50 hurt in China factory clash



About 2,000 assembly line workers went on strike in the factory in Jiangsu province, and the clashes erupted with 'local security staff' when strikers tried to take their protest out into the streets. -- PHOTO: AFP

BEIJING - ABOUT 50 workers at a Taiwan-funded factory striking for better pay and working conditions were injured in clashes with security forces earlier this week in eastern China, state media said on Wednesday. The unrest - which occurred on Monday at the KOK Machinery factory in the city of Kunshan - is the latest in a series of strikes and labour action to have occurred in China in recent weeks.

About 2,000 assembly line workers went on strike in the factory in Jiangsu province, and the clashes erupted with 'local security staff' when strikers tried to take their protest out into the streets, the China Daily said. Photos of the incident showed police and special forces massed outside the gates of the facility, preventing workers from exiting. The paper said 50 workers were injured, five of them seriously. Officials at the factory refused to comment on the strike when contacted by AFP on Wednesday, but said that the workers had returned to work. -- AFP