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Vietnam: Nike strike ends

Update for "Vietnam: Nike workers who average less than $62 a month, go on strike for $12 a month raise" (4/01/08)

From International Herald Tribune (4/02/08)

(AP)Nike strike ends in Vietnam, contract factory remains closed after worker brawl

BEN LUC, Vietnam: A two-day strike at a Vietnamese factory that makes Nike sneakers has ended, but the plant remained closed Wednesday after violence erupted when workers began returning to the job, a union official said.

About 17,000 of the Ching Luh plant's 21,000 employees reported to work Wednesday morning after the labor union and management of the Taiwanese-owned plant reached an agreement to increase monthly wages by 100,000 dong (US$6) amid record-high inflation, said Pham Thi Lap, head of the labor union of southern Long An province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, where the plant is located.

But after a brawl broke out following a spat between a former worker and a security guard, police were called in and the plant was closed, Lap said. No one was seriously injured, but several workers were beaten during the melee, she added.

"The workers overwhelmed the police and factory guards," Lap said. "Things went out of control, and we had to call in more police to restore order."

The factory that makes sneakers for Nike Inc., will remain closed for the next three days for security concerns, said Nguyen Van Thua, a provincial trade union official.

Company officials declined to comment on the violence.

"We are encouraged by the labor union and the provincial government in helping to find a fair and timely resolution to the current work stoppage," George Lin, factory general manager said in a statement Wednesday.

Some employees interviewed by AP Television News, who declined to give their names for fear of losing their jobs, said the brawl started when a group of workers who disagreed with the deal began attacking those who came to work.

"Some workers switched off the electricity and they threw chairs at the other workers who tried to switch it on," one worker said.

The workers asked for a 20 percent bump to their US$59 (€37) average monthly salaries along with better lunches at the company cafeteria. They were given a 10 percent raise and the company agreed to provide free lunches, Lin said in the statement.

Consumer prices in Vietnam are 19 percent higher than they were a year ago, according to government figures. Hanoi responded in January by increasing the minimum wage foreign-owned companies are required to pay by roughly 13 percent.

The Ching Luh plant has been operating since 2002. It is one of 10 factories that contact 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, Nike spokesman Chris Helzer said.

Vietnam: Nike workers who average less than $62 a month, go on strike for $12 a month raise

Unbelievable, you get those new kicks for about $100 USD and that one pair pays for a worker and a half for an entire month.

UPDATED-> "Vietnam: Nike strike ends"

From Channel NewsAsia (4/01/08) :

Thousands on strike at Nike plant in Vietnam
Posted: 01 April 2008 2313 hrs

HANOI : At least 15,000 workers at a Vietnam factory that makes shoes for Nike have gone on strike, looking for better pay to cope with surging prices in the country, an official and the company said on Tuesday.

The workers went on strike Monday at the Ching Luh factory in southern Long An province, demanding a monthly pay rise of 200,000 dong (12.4 dollars), or around 15 percent, said Huynh Van Xe from the provincial labour department.

"But management only offered 100,000 more," he said, calling the work stoppage at the Taiwanese-owned factory the province's biggest strike in memory.

A Nike spokesman put the number of striking workers at 15,000, but the Vietnamese official said 17,000 had downed tools.

Strikes are becoming more frequent in communist Vietnam, where consumer prices have risen more than 16 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2008, including for essentials such as the staple food rice.

"We recognise the impact that rising inflation has had on the people of Vietnam," said Nike spokesman Chris Helzer.

"We strongly support the workers' rights to freedom of association and hope the situation will be resolved quickly and amicably."

Nike said the Ching Luh plant was already paying its workers more than the government-set minimum wage of between 800,000 and one million dong per month for foreign companies in Vietnam.

The US sportswear giant said it works with 50 different factories in the country, where about a third of its shoes are produced.

In December, 10,000 workers walked off the job at another Vietnamese plant where goods are made for Nike. - AFP/de

And the US Chamber Of Commerce, when writing on the new Colombian Free Trade Agreement in which the Bush administration is quick pathing through Congress, has the audacity to state on their blog "We believe that free trade IS fair trade and it is time to level the playing field for American workers."

I feel leveled alright, leveled to the pavement.

The Washington Post has another article on this matter via The Associated Press, while the facts are alike there are some differences. You can read that article at "Workers Strike at Nike Contract Factory"

UPDATED-> "Vietnam: Nike strike ends"