The Associated Press
Friday, March 9, 2007
HANOI, Vietnam: Demanding higher pay, 3,000 Vietnamese workers unexpectedly walked off the job at a Taiwanese-owned furniture factory in southern Vietnam, state media and company officials reported Saturday.
Staff at Vietnam Green River Wood and Lumber in Binh Duong province complained that new employees were earning as much as workers with more seniority, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.
Nguyen Thi Mai, a company human resources official, said the workers didn't inform the trade union or the company before starting their strike Friday.
"At least they should have told us either directly or through the trade union what they wanted. Yesterday, they did not say anything but just stopped working," said Mai.
In Vietnam, strikes that do not go through trade unions are illegal.
Mai said the union and government authorities were trying to reach an agreement.
A wave of strikes last year hit companies across southern Vietnam, with tens of thousands of workers at foreign-owned factories stopping work.
In response, the government increased the minimum wage at foreign firms by at least 25 percent.
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