工人再次放下生产工具 东莞鞋厂再传罢工
Thousands of workers have downed tools at the shoemaking factory that last year suffered one of the biggest strikes in China’s modern history, as labour relations grow increasingly fractious amid the slowing economy.
Millions of migrant women — and men — provided the muscle behind China’s export-driven economic rise. But protests are rising as the balance of power slowly shifts from employers to workers because of demographic and technological trends.
数以百万计的男女农民工曾经充当中国出口导向型经济增长背后的“肌肉”。但由于人口结构和技术上的发展趋势，力量平衡慢慢地由雇主向工人倾斜，抗议活动正在增加。Workers and labour rights groups said at least 3,000 went on strike at Yue Yuen Industrial, a Taiwanese shoe manufacturer for the likes of Nike and Adidas, after management announced plans to merge two production operations.
工人和劳工权益组织表示，在为耐克(Nike)和阿迪达斯(Adidas)等品牌代工的台资制鞋企业裕元工业(Yue Yuen Industrial)，至少有3000名工人发起罢工。此前，管理层宣布了合并两块生产业务的计划。
Last year tens of thousands of workers at Yue Yuen’s facilities in Dongguan, a manufacturing centre in southern Guangdong province, took to the streets after alleging their employer had not been making pension payments. The industrial action ended after Yue Yuen agreed to make back payments.
去年，裕元位于广东省制造业重镇东莞的工厂有数万工人走上街头，这些工人声称，厂方未能足额缴付社保。这场劳工行动在裕元同意补缴社保费后结束。“With the transformation of manufacturing, a lot of problems affecting workers’ social security and other benefits have accumulated,” said Pang Kun, a labour lawyer. “There will be more strikes such as this.”
“随着制造业逐渐转型，有很多影响工人社保和其他福利的问题日积月累，”劳工律师庞坤表示，“像这样的罢工还会发生。”In a notice obtained by China Labor Watch, a New York-based group, Yue Yuen said the merger of the two plants would affect only clerical and logistics staff, and not assembly-line personnel.
总部位于纽约的“中国劳工观察”(China Labor Watch)获得的一份通知显示，裕元表示，两家工厂的合并将只影响文秘和后勤人员，不会影响组装线上的工人。The workers, however, fear it could be a prelude to lay-offs if the company relocates operations to cheaper locations in China or to other countries in Asia.
但工人们担心，这可能是裁员的一个前奏——如果公司把业务迁往中国或亚洲其他国家劳动力成本更低的地方。They demanded the immediate release of money they have accrued under a “housing fund” — allowances required under Chinese law, which can range from 5 per cent to 20 per cent of workers’ monthly incomes.
他们要求立即发放他们积累的“住房公积金”，这是中国法律规定由雇主及其在职职工缴存的长期住房储金，雇主缴纳的金额相当于工人月收入的5%至20%。Dongguan recently moved to restrict the circumstances under which workers may draw down their housing funds, sparking a strike at another factory in the area last week.
最近东莞出台新政策，对工人能够提取住房公积金的情况作出了限制，此举上周在当地另一家工厂引发罢工。“We are at the factory today but nobody is doing any work,” said one Yue Yuen employee, who asked not to be identified. “Our main request is to be able to withdraw our housing fund freely. If the merger goes ahead, then we also want severance.”
“我们今天在厂里上班，但没有人干活。”一位要求匿名的裕元雇员表示，“我们的主要诉求是能够自由提取我们的住房公积金。如果合并变成现实，那么我们还想拿到遣散费。”Jerry Shum, head of investor relations for Yue Yuen, said the strike involved less than 5 per cent of the company’s China workforce and would not have a material impact on its operations.
裕元的投资者关系总监岑立(Jerry Shum)表示，此次罢工涉及该公司不到5%的中国员工，不会对公司经营产生实质性影响。Late last year, similar concerns sparked a wave of school strikes in northeastern Heilongjiang province involving as many as 20,000 teachers.
去年晚些时候，类似的担忧在中国东北的黑龙江省引发了一连串教师罢工，涉及多达两万名教师。Additional reporting by Wan Li
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