More than 1,000 workers in Longgang were left empty-handed, dismayed and angry when they returned to work yesterday to find the company had gone bankrupt and the owner had fled with their wages.
Leaving nothing more than a letter of apology, the owner of the Pinghu Metals and Plastics Factory, a Hong Kong woman identified only as Zhang, fled owing workers 2.52 million yuan (US$381,818) in wages.
The letter infuriated workers, some of whom rushed to the factory houses to take company property but were stopped by police.
The Pinghu Labor Office stepped in organizing two agencies to help the workers find new jobs and arranged a fund to pay part of wages owed.
The workers would be compensated after a court auctioned the factory property, the Pinghu Subdistrict Office said.
According to a managerial staff member surnamed Chen, the factory was registered in 1989 and had 1,553 workers.
Han Ximin
