By Rahul Jacob in Hong Kong
Thousands of workers have returned to work at a shoe factory in the southern Chinese industrial city of Dongguan, amid allegations of police brutality to quell their protests on Thursday.
At least 2,000 workers demonstrated outside the shoe factory over the sacking of middle managers and the suspension of overtime, which in effect cut wages. The factory is owned by the Taiwanese company Pou Chen, which makes shoes for brands such as Nike and Adidas.
Workers said the firings were related to a drop in orders at the factory and a decision by management to move jobs to another factory in the inland province of Jiangxi.
Factories in southern China are struggling because of rising labour costs over the past year, and a collapse in orders from Europe since the third quarter as the eurozone debt crisis has dragged on.
Earlier this week, Zhu Xiaodan, Guangdong?s acting governor, said the province, which accounts for a quarter of China?s trade, had recorded a drop in exports of about 9 per cent in October because of a collapse in orders from Europe. He said that contrasted with the growth in imports and exports of 26 per cent in the first half of the year.
As labour costs have risen by double-digit rates this year, many companies have moved production from southern China to south-east Asia and China?s inland provinces.
Geoffrey Crothall of the China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based workers? advocacy group, said he expected more labour unrest. ?It?s going to be tricky convincing workers [in Guangdong] to move inland,? said Mr Crothall.
Additional reporting by Zhou Ping in Hong Kong
? The Financial Times Limited 2011