Detained and beaten after protests: Foshan workers producing for Siemens-Osram urgently seeking redress

Worker held incommunicado for five months

News has been recently emerging of a major confrontation between workers and police in Guangdong Province in late December – one worker remains in detention and has been refused access to his family.

According to local media, on 26 December 2008, several hundred workers from the Foshan Lighting Factory in Foshan City in south China’s Guangdong Province blocked the factory entrance after weeks of disputes. Local police arrived after several hours and dispersed the strikers with water canons and batons, injuring several workers and detaining at least 30.

The largest shareholder in Foshan Lighting is a locally based section of the German multinational and member of the Global Compact, Osram; itself is a subsidiary of Siemens.

According to the workers who make the ‘environmentally friendly’ light bulbs, their wages had dropped by a third, despite working twelve hours shifts seven days a week. “The wage dropped by five to six hundred Yuan, but the charge for each meal has been increased by 3 Yuan” said a worker who added that the factory had also stopped paying a 1 Yuan allowance for every meal.

Workers had been carrying out smaller protests at the factory throughout November when they had been finally given wages for September and had discovered the massive deductions. After management failed to negotiate workers then began to block the factory gates on Christmas day and Boxing Day. Hundreds of police were then called in to disperse the demonstration and began to use batons and water hoses to break up the protestors. Several workers were injured in the violent confrontation and at least 30 workers were detained.  Colleagues were later unable to visit the hospital which was guarded by police.  

After the protests local authorities continued to seek out and detain and by New Years Eve some 40 -50 workers had been apprehended, several of them detained under criminal charges and beaten.

One male worker remains in detention while others detained were released around 18 January, Chinese New Year, when the factory closed for the holiday. However they were not allowed back to work.

Workers, including those beaten or previously detained are reportedly being pressurized not to take any action against the factory or local government and most remain silent due to fear of recriminations.

In response to the protests management reportedly restored the salaries of November and December to the full amount and released them on time to the workers before Chinese New year. It is reported that despite the economic slowdown this factory – perhaps because of the increasing demand for ‘green’ light bulbs – is increasing its orders and recruiting new staff. However contrary to Chinese law, shifts are for 13 hours and workers are only given Sundays off twice a month.

We call for the immediate release of the male worker believed to remain in detention and a prompt and full investigation into the allegations of widespread beating of striking workers and the proper medical treatment of any workers injured. Compensation should also be provided.

The detained workers should be given immediate access to his family and lawyer. All workers who wish to take legal action against the factory or local authorities for the treatment at the plant or at the hands of the police should be allowed to do so without interference, harassment or threats.

Siemens and Osram should take responsibility for the actions of its subsidiary and rectify working hours, wages and related workplace issues including supporting the formation of a worker-led enterprise union or representative process.

Unless Osram speaks out against the detention of its workers it could stand accused of benefiting from local governments’ violent suppression of a peaceful strike and thus breaking its alleged commitment to corporate social responsibility and the Global Compact not to mention fundamental business ethics.

The violent suppression of worker protests and the detention of strikers will not help support the development of a harmonious society and can only be detrimental to social stability in the current climate.