3,000 workers at a furniture factory in southern Vietnam have downed tools and walked out over low pay, state media and company officials report.
A Vietnamese furniture factory
According to the company and state media, the dispute centres on the levelling out of pay between new and experienced workers at the Taiwanese-owned factory. Nguyen Thi Mai, a company human resources official, said the workers didn't inform the trade union or the company of ther intentions or their demands before starting their strike Friday.
"At least they should have told us either directly or through the trade union what they wanted. Yesterday, they did not say anything but just stopped working," said Mai. In Vietnam, strikes that do not go through trade unions are illegal.
A wave of strikes last year hit companies across southern Vietnam, with tens of thousands of workers at foreign-owned factories stopping work. In response, the government increased the minimum wage at foreign firms by at least 25 percent.
Update - 14 March
Vietnam: More wildcat strikes hit manufacturing
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