Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Energy News .




TRADE WARS
US factory boss freed in China: union official
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) June 27, 2013


An American factory boss held hostage for nearly a week over a labour dispute that has highlighted employer-worker tensions in the country has been freed, a union official said.

Chip Starnes, who arrived from the US-based Specialty Medical Supplies to lay off 30 workers, was barred last Friday by the remaining 100 from leaving the premises until a resolution is reached.

"He has left the factory," Chu Lixiang, an official with a district labour union in the north of Beijing, told AFP, saying the dispute had been resolved. She did not provide any details.

Starnes had lived in his office while workers guarded the premises and negotiations proceeded, involving legal counsel on his side and the local Huairou district labour union.

Starnes could not be reached for comment on Thursday, but he had earlier given AFP details of his ordeal.

He said by telephone that he had access to food, water, a cot and a shower, and that local authorities had checked on his safety but otherwise declined to set him free.

Incidents of workers detaining their employers are not frequently reported in China, but labour disputes are common.

Many workers fear bosses will shut operations and skip town without paying wages, though it was unclear if that concern figured in this case.

The nature of the disagreement itself has remained under dispute.

Starnes had told AFP the conflict arose after the 100 employees asked to be laid off and receive severance packages like their 30 colleagues were given.

For long-time workers at the plant, which opened 10 years ago, the compensation could amount to a year's wages.

On Wednesday Starnes said he had decided to offer such compensation, but that other issues remain to be sorted out, from payment technicalities to the fate of factory machinery.

But the state news agency Xinhua, citing the district government, reported on Tuesday that the workers were demanding two months' unpaid wages.

.


Related Links
Global Trade News






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








TRADE WARS
Taiwan's Hon Hai set to spin off units
New Taipei City, Taiwan (AFP) June 26, 2013
Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision said Wednesday it plans to spin off some units as its founder unveiled measures to battle global sluggishness and falling share prices. Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn group, saw its sales in the three months to March fall 19 percent from a year earlier to Tw$809 billion ($26.97 billion) as orders from its biggest client Apple slowed. In reaction to the ... read more


TRADE WARS
Remote Norway islands added to national electric grid after blackout

Outside View: Obama's climate action plan masks hidden agenda

Extreme Energy, Extreme Implications: Interview with Michael Klare

Energy Companies Pull a Blackwater

TRADE WARS
Outside View: Azerbaijan decides Europe's energy security

Jordan seeks energy security with shale oil plant

Philippines, US hold war games near China flashpoint reef

Japan vows to help Philippines amid China sea row

TRADE WARS
Next step on King Island wind power project welcomed

Chile expands wind power resources

Policy issues plague hydropower as wind power backup

Renewable energy use gaining worldwide: IEA

TRADE WARS
SolarCity Introduces Energy Explorer

Largest-in-the-Nation Feed-in Tariff Solar Program Kicks Off

Santerno Solar Skids To Be Installed To The Largest Solar Installation In Vermont

ET Solar Supplied Solar Modules to School Projects in Southern California

TRADE WARS
Japan gets first MOX nuclear shipment since Fukushima

Japan disaster budget given to nuclear operator

Japan gets first MOX nuclear shipment since Fukushima

New radioactive water leak at Fukushima: TEPCO

TRADE WARS
High-octane bacteria could ease pain at the pump

Novel Enzyme from Tiny Gribble Could Prove a Boon for Biofuels Research

A cheaper drive to 'cool' fuels

When green algae run out of air

TRADE WARS
Twilight for Tiangong

China calls for international cooperation in manned space program

Shenzhou 10 Returns Safely To Earth

Home of space dreams

TRADE WARS
Obama says US can lead climate change battle

Australia to forge ahead on climate change?

Climate tug of war disrupting Australian atmospheric circulation patterns

Tunisian woman to be first boss of Green Climate Fund




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement