About 50 employees in Shanghai staged a six-hour rooftop protest
at a factory on Saturday to complain about their dismissal before
the new Labor Contract Law comes into effect.
They worked for Transpo Electronics (Shanghai) Co Ltd, a
US-invested company in Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone that has more
than 300 employees.
The protesters said the company told them in the afternoon of
November 30 that they would not need to work next day. The company
said it would not sign next year's labor contracts after their
current contracts expire on December 31, but they would be paid
wages for December.
A total of 53 long-serving workers were dismissed, most of whom
had been with the company for more than five years. Some had worked
for 11 years.
Labor rights lawyers told them that according to the Labor
Contract Law which takes effect on January 1 next year, an
open-term contract should be signed after people work for an
employer for 10 consecutive years.
The employees complained that Transpo was avoiding signing
open-term contracts by dismissing them.
They went to meet the manager on Saturday, but when he failed to
see them they occupied the top of the factory to seek
compensation.
The manager surnamed Mei arrived about 4pm, but denied the move
was aimed at circumventing the new law. He said it was legal to
terminate a contract after it expires.
The protesters halted their demonstration after Mei agreed to
pay some compensation and promised to negotiate details today.
The Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau said it would
publicize the new law and supervise companies to avoid similar
cases.
Earlier, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in Guangdong Province asked
staff who had worked for eight consecutive years for "voluntary
resignations." This attracted criticism ahead of the new laws.
The company later agreed to suspend its controversial "voluntary
resignation" scheme after talks with trade unions, which called on
the company to solicit workers' opinions and respect their
rights.
The Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau has begun a series
of lectures this month to promote the new laws, and produced
pamphlets explaining the regulations.
(Shanghai Daily, December 10, 2007)