Workers at a Chinese factory producing clothes for Uniqlo, the low-cost Japanese fashion retailer, have gone on strike in the latest example of strained labour relations in the world’s main manufacturing hub.
Hundreds of employees at the Shenzhen Artigas Clothing & Leather factory in Guangdong province have been on strike since June 8 because of fears the company wanted to shut down the operation, according to a labour activist.
“The workers invited the management to negotiate with them about fair compensation but the factory managers showed no interest in talking to them,” said Alexandra Chan, a campaigner for Students & Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour, a labour rights organisation in Hong Kong. “Around 500 workers are sleeping in the factory to ensure machines won’t be moved out.”