More than 100 striking workers of a sporting goods manufacturing factory, linked with the Walt Disney Company, returned to work after reaching a preliminary agreement with their employer in Dongguan, Guangdong province, yesterday.
The workers in team B of the printing department of Wide Ball Ltd, a Taiwan-funded manufacturer, went on strike last Thursday in protest of the company's "non-transparent payment system", according to an investigation conducted by a Chinese student organization.
The organization found that the workers in team B received 200 to 600 yuan ($29 to 87) less each when compared with the salaries of the other two teams working in the same conditions.
"After negotiations, the workers were told that the unit price would be publicized to make the piece-rate payment system clear," Li Wen, founder of the seven-member organization, told China Daily.
The factory would also inform the workers of their welfare later, she added.
Walt Disney Company officials said they were still investigating the incident.
According to Li, her organization sent someone to work in Wide Ball undercover during the last summer vacations and found that the company violated at least seven clauses in China's labor law.
The company gave no explanations on the imbalanced salary structures, failed to follow regulations to calculate workers' overtime income and also defaulted on salaries, she said.
The company allegedly also threatened workers with their jobs to keep quiet when Disney officials visited the factory for inspection.
The organization said salaries of workers who refuse to work overtime are cut by 100 yuan to 200 yuan for each absence.
Li said things were "no different" when she visited the factory last week.
(By Chen Hong)
