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2008-11-27 11:21:00 a.m. HKT, XFNA
China toy workers get improved payouts after violence
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BEIJING, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong toy manufacturer has agreed to
improve compensation terms for a batch of laid-off factory workers who clashed
violently with police in south China over severance payouts, state media
reported on Thursday.
Rising labour costs, falling export orders and a weak Christmas outlook
have forced a growing number of Chinese toy factories to close or lay off
workers, heightening the country's social strain as the global financial crisis
worsens.
A crowd of 500 workers overran nearly 1,000 police and stormed into the
"Kaida" toy factory run by top Hong Kong toy manufacturer Kader Holdings in the
latest sign of social strain in China's industrial heartland of Guangdong
province.
The workers overturned police vehicles, smashed windows and computer
monitors in a dispute over compensation for laid-off workers in the industrial
belt of Dongguan where thousands of factories have closed.
Hong Kong-listed Kader, one of the city's largest toymakers which counts
industry goliaths like Hasbro among its clients, said in a statement that it
regretted the incident but reaffirmed its financial structure was "sound and
stable".
Kader, which employs around 8,000 people at the factory, laid off 380
workers last week and a further 216 contracts were due to be terminated on
Wednesday, the China Daily said.
Kader said the 400 or so workers had been "compensated accordingly" under
China's Labour Law and rewarded staff who'd served more than five years with
"extra bonuses".
The China Daily however quoted local official Li Zhihui as saying the
company would "offer a new plan about giving economic compensation and bonuses
to the employees whose contracts were terminated".
The newspaper didn't clarify whether all contracts would be renewed or
just those of "senior" employees.
Last month, about 1,000 workers protested outside another toy factory in
Dongguan, demanding unpaid wages after the company shut its doors.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and James Pomfret in Hong Kong; Editing by
Nick Macfie) Keywords: CHINA TOY/
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