Vietnam : Pou Chen plant resumes production after strike
Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 29 (CNA) Workers at a plant in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam operated by the Taiwan-based Pou Chen Group returned to work on Monday following a three-day
The production of Pou Chen's factory in Bien Hoa, the capital of Dong Nai, returned to normal Monday when all of the striking workers were back at work, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing Nguyen Minh Quang, head of the Pou Chen Vietnam Footwear Plant Workers' Union.
The strike ended after the company agreed to protesters' requests to suspend the implementation of a new manpower management policy and pay them wages for the three days they were on strike, Nguyen was cited as saying.
Under the new policy announced by the enterprise's Vietnam branch on Feb. 18, work hours were to be used as one of the standards determining the distribution of performance bonuses.
Some workers criticized the new regulation as being too strict and said it would penalize them for using their legitimate benefits, such as taking legally mandated days off.
About 17,000 employees out of the 21,600 working at the Dong Nai plant went on strike Feb. 25 to protest the policy, leading the company to stop production.
Pou Chen churns out athletic and casual footwear for many international brands, such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Asics, Under Armour, New Balance, Puma, Converse, Salomon and Timberland.
It set up production facilities for its footwear business in Dong Nai in 1994, and it now operates a total of seven production bases in Vietnam, employing around 160,000 people.
Vietnam is just one of Pou Chen's many production sites around the world. It also operates factories in Taiwan, China, Indonesia, the United States, Mexico and other areas in Asia.
(By Fan Ching-yi and Elizabeth Hsu)
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