Some Workers Return to Work at Shoemaker Yue Yuen

BEIJING--A number of workers have resumed work after a nearly two-week strike at a Chinese factory that supplies Nike Inc. and Adidas AG, its owner said, as some workers accused local officials and company executives of pressuring them to come back.

It is unclear how many have returned to the shoe factory in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan. An executive at owner Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) said late Friday afternoon that most workers had returned to work at the factory, which employs more than 40,000 workers. The strike began last week after some workers accused the company of not contributing to their social-insurance and housing benefits as required by law.

Also Friday, China's central government asked the shoemaker to take corrective measures to address the strike, which has already prompted Germany's Adidas to shift some future production elsewhere.

A worker surnamed Dong said late Friday that starting Thursday morning local government officials and Yue Yuen's local managers in Gaobu county had pressured workers to return to work with threats, beatings and arrests. Another worker also cited mistreatment, while photographs on Beijing-based labor-rights researcher Wang Jiangsong's verified Weibo account showed a woman lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious, then being carried into an ambulance. According to a posting on Mr. Wang's account, the woman is a worker at Yue Yuen and was beaten by a junior manager at the company's factory in Dongguan.

"The situations here are becoming really bad. If they found out I've been talking to you I will be in trouble," a worker said.

The photographs couldn't be independently confirmed. George Liu, executive director of Yue Yuen, didn't immediately respond to requests late Friday for comment about the most-recent allegations from workers. Local government officials couldn't be reached for comment late Friday; in the past they haven't responded to requests for comment.

Labor-right activists have estimated that the back payments Yue Yuen has to make total at least 100 million to 200 million yuan ($16 million to $32 million). Mr. Liu has said the company will pay what is required but doesn't yet have a total estimate for cost. The strike has highlighted workers' worries about whether their employers are meeting their obligations to fund China's social-safety net.

Mr. Liu earlier Friday reiterated the company's plans announced last week to make contributions as of May 1 to meet its obligations.

"The adjustment plan, which will make full social-security contribution in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, was made after consultation with the relevant government authorities, and we believe should address any concerns in regards to employees' social security benefits," Mr. Liu said in an email.

Representatives for Adidas and Nike didn't respond to requests for comment.

China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said Friday that Yue Yuen had underpaid its workers' social insurance and have asked it to rectify the wrong doings by Friday. It marked Beijing's first public word on the strike at Yue Yuen.

"After our preliminary investigation, (we found that) Yue Yuen's factories in Dongguan indeed have failed to make social-insurance payments based on workers' actual income," ministry spokesman Li Zhong said at a press briefing.

The local social-security bureau in Dongguan has asked Yue Yuen to take corrective measures by Friday, Mr. Li said.

The ministry will keep monitoring the labor dispute, direct the Guangdong province to address the issue, and protect workers' legitimate rights, the ministry spokesman said.

Liyan Qi

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