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Nike Plant in Vietnam Still Closed
The Associated Press
Friday 04 April 2008
Hanoi, Vietnam - More than 20,000 Vietnamese workers at a Taiwanese-owned factory that makes sneakers for Nike did not go back to work and the plant remained closed yesterday for fears that the strike would continue, officials and workers said.
On Tuesday, the company agreed to increase monthly wages by 100,000 dong ($6) in a settlement between workers representatives and management at the Ching Luh plant.
About 17,000 workers at the plant reported for work Wednesday, but a brawl breaking out following a spat between a former worker and a security guard at the plant, caused the factory to shut down.
Many workers did not agree with the decision, insisting on an increase of 200,000 dong (US$12), said Nguyen Van Thua, an official with Long An provincial trade union.
Some workers distributed leaflets in front of the plant yesterday, calling others to continue the strike, Thua said.
Negotiation:
Local trade union officials went to meet with workers to persuade them to go back to work. But it remains unclear when they would return, he said.
Nike said the Ching Luh factory, which employs about 21,000 workers, would be closed until management is confident that all workers support the negotiated settlement.
"We hope that the trade union can facilitate a safe return to work for all factory employees based on an agreed-upon settlement," said Nikes spokesman, Chris Helzer.
Nike said the Ching Luh plant has been operating since 2002. It is one of 10 factories that contract with Nike to produce sneakers in Vietnam, producing about 75 million pairs of shoes a year. The Ching Luh plant accounts for about 12 percent.
Among workers there are still those who think the company should give them more than 100,000, a worker, who declined to give her name for fear that she could lose her job, told AP by telephone.
"100,000 (dong) is nothing, given that everything is a lot more expensive now," she said.
Consumer prices in Vietnam are 19 percent higher than they were a year ago, according to government figures. The skyrocketing inflation has led to a wave of strikes recently. Hanoi responded in January by increasing the minimum wage foreign-owned companies are required to pay by roughly 13 percent.
"But I want the job, and I will go back to the factory Monday," the worker said.
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