Now that's a new low in labor relations!

I'm stunned to read of the results of a talk given by the CEO of a Chinese steel firm to the workers at a plant his company was about to take over.

Chinese officials have scrapped plans to part-privatise a state-owned steel plant after rioting workers killed one its managers.

An emergency notice announcing the end of the deal was made after thousands of steelworkers clashed with police on Friday.

The protest was sparked by plans for Beijing's Jianlong Group to take a majority stake in the Tonghua Iron and Steel Group.

Workers beat Jianlong executive Chen Guojun to death outside the plant in Tonghua city, Jilin province, after he announced that only 5,000 out of 30,000 workers would be retained after the merger.

. . .

The protest forced the steel plant to shut down for 12 hours on Friday, but operations have been back to normal since Saturday, Zhao said.

The China Daily newspaper said crowds dispersed after the announcement about the end of the deal was made.

Jianlong had a stake in Tonghua since 2005 but suffered losses after steel prices dropped and jettisoned the company, the paper said.

It said Jianlong revived the takeover plan after steel prices rebounded, making the business profitable again.

Both Xinhua and China Daily reported that workers also blocked ambulances, police and government workers who had tried to rescue Chen.

There's more at the link.

I've heard of labor unrest, but this lends a whole new meaning to the term 'strike'! Not surprisingly, the take-over plans have been rescinded. No word on any arrests as yet.





Peter