Adidas factory on strike in China

DONGGUAN , China, April 25 (UPI) -- As many as 50,000 workers are on strike at Yue Yuen Industrial in Dongguan, China, a major supplier of Adidas and Nike apparel.

Workers walked off the job saying they are not being paid the social insurance and housing benefits they are owed, adding that fraudulent work contracts prevent them from enrolling their children in local schools. The factory offered to recalculate its payments but offered no adjusted contracts, and strikers refused the offer.

With China’s manufacturing sector slowing, work has been moved to the nation’s inland provinces, areas with cheaper labor, threatening the livelihood of workers at large facilities such as the one in Dongguan, a city with a population of eight million.

Chinese workers now worry about long-term job prospects and not merely wage increases.

Adidas spokeswoman Katja Schreiber said the company would move its orders to other suppliers, noting it has no plans to sever ties with Yue Yuen Industrial.

“This is typical behavior of Adidas,” said Teresa Cheng of the International Union League for Brand Responsibility. “Adidas systematically withdraws its orders, and moves them to factories with more exploitative conditions, essentially punishing workers who dare to stand up top sweatshop abuse.”