XIAN, China, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Thousands of Chinese workers have been blocking roads and railway lines in Shaanxi and Anhui provinces to protest layoffs, low wages and unpaid pensions.
Workers from the No. 7 Cotton Works in Xianyang, in the northwest province of Shaanxi, blocked a major railway line for more than two hours Sunday, in the seventh week of a protest against a Hong Kong-listed company, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday.
Workers have staged sit-ins at the factory since Sept. 14, when they were told the business would be sold, up to 1,000 of them laid off, and new contracts arranged for the rest. Government mediation efforts have produced no resolution to the standoff.
In a separate incident, in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi, workers from a state-owned factory have blocked a main bus terminal for more than a month, apparently over unpaid wages.
And in Bengbu, a city in the eastern province of Anhui, up to 10,000 retired workers have protested for days, demanding that authorities address a shortage of pension funds in the face of rising prices.
