Panasonic staff continues protest

More than 200 employees blocked the gate of a factory belonging to Panasonic Corporation of China for the fourth day yesterday in a desperate attempt to secure a better severance deal.

Factory managers and the disgruntled workers sat down at the negotiating table at 4 pm yesterday in the hope of finding a solution. At press time, no deal had been reached.

The workers said the action at the factory, which is close to the international airport, would continue. Neither side would predict when the situation might end.

Panasonic Electronic Devices (Beijing) Company runs two production lines at the facility that have manufactured capacitors since 1996. The company told workers it planned to move one of the production lines to Guangdong province because of the high cost of producing parts in Beijing.

The workers were told about the move on Jan 15 and decided to block the gate on Monday as factory managers began asking members of the workforce to volunteer to leave the company.

Posters on the gate said workers were united and demanded the same severance package as the company offered other workers at other factories.

"They did not tell us they were looking for volunteers because they had decided to fire most of us," said a worker who had been at the factory for 13 years.

He claimed the word "volunteer" was being used but in reality the factory would fire all workers and offer only a small severance package.

"We have worked here for more than 10 years and spent our youth here. Now the factory wants to dismiss us with only 50,000 yuan ($7,323.75)," he said.

The workers stayed at the main gates around the clock and senior executives, including four Japanese managers inside a building, did not visit to talk with them, he said.

"We are not preventing them from leaving. As long as they can give us a clear explanation, they can leave any time," he said.

The man said workers were worried that, if managers left and the factory was closed, they would not be heard.

"Our demand is reasonable. We want the factory to give us the same severance package as the other two factories which also belonged to Panasonic," a female worker said.

She said workers at the other factories got 120,000 yuan when the company closed other lines, but Panasonic Electronic Devices (Beijing) Company was only offering 50,000 yuan to workers at the Beijing factory.

She said workers' salaries of 1,200 yuan a month, in return for 12-hour working days, had not been raised for years.

"We don't want to lose our jobs, but if we can get money, at least it will be a consolation to us and our families," she said.

You Nan, a public relations official with Panasonic Corporation of China said the decision to close the production line was made for business reasons.

"It is a normal business change and we are sincere in wanting to talk with the workers," You said.

She emphasized that workers were not being dismissed but were being asked to volunteer to leave the company.

The initiative will end on Jan 29 and factory managers will consider their next step, You said.

She said the size of the severance package was in line with the law.

"The severance package should be fixed according to the years they worked," said Wang Fang, director of Zhicheng legal aid and research center for migrant workers.

Wang said, according to the law, the factory should pay workers who worked for 13 years salary for 13 months.