Hundreds of workers at a garment factory in Dongguan were given a one-month holiday. When they returned, they found that the boss had taken away all their clothes for changing.
Report by our correspondent (reporter Helonghua): Yesterday was the day agreed upon by the boss of Dongguan Ruihua Bra Garment Factory and more than 400 employees to return to work after the holiday. However, when over 200 employees arrived at the factory gate from various places, they unexpectedly found the factory gates tightly locked. The machines in the workshop had already been moved out, and even the luggage that the employees had not yet had time to move before the holiday was nowhere to be seen. Feeling deceived, nearly a hundred employees gathered in front of the Dongguan municipal government office to report the issue to the petition department.
Outside the Ruihua Bra Garment Factory on Yinfeng Road in Nancheng District, employees began gathering from around 7 o'clock in the morning. "Today is the day the boss agreed with us to return to work," said a male worker who came from Shenzhen. Over a month ago, the boss settled the wages of all 400-plus employees in the factory and gave holidays in batches. He then stayed with relatives working in Shenzhen for a month. "When we left, we did get paid, so we were quite happy, but now that we've returned, we see the factory gates closed and it's all empty inside."
What disappeared from the emptied garment factory was not only the machines in the workshop, but also the beds and luggage in the workers' dormitories. "The boss clearly stated when we left that we would return to work on August 1st, so we didn't take our luggage with us. Now that we've come back, we find that not only have we lost our place to live, but even our clothes for changing are gone." The workers angrily said, feeling deceived. The workers suspected that the boss deliberately gave holidays to avoid paying compensation for unjustifiably dismissing the workers.
According to the owner of a nearby convenience store, not long after the workers took their holidays, he saw the factory moving out machines, bed boards from the dormitories, and the workers' luggage, which took a full 10 days. More and more workers gathered at the entrance of the garment factory. Subsequently, nearly a hundred workers walked to the front of the Dongguan municipal government building to report the issue to the petition department.
Yesterday afternoon, cadres from the Shenghe community in Nancheng district persuaded the workers in batches to leave the municipal government office and go to the community office building to coordinate this matter. Community cadres said that they would certainly try their best to find the factory boss and properly settle the workers.