Nike Vietnam Factory Strike Ends With A Pay Increase Of 10%

Every year, Nike has 75 million pairs of sneakers sold by Vietnamese shoe makers to the world, but the progress of workers asking for a raise does not run through inflation across the country.

On Monday, 17 thousand shoe makers of Vietnam's Ching Luh Vietnam marched and asked for a pay rise of 20% and improved their meals.

These workers are paid 59 dollars a month (including a lunch) - but the factory's grievances are: our salary is actually 14% higher than the national minimum wage.

After the strike lasted until Tuesday, the boss still closed the door.

The angry workers began throwing stones at the factory where the gates were closed, almost to clash with the policing police.

A few of the daring shoemaker replied to the media that the boss would raise wages and the factory would resume production, but who would be unemployed if he went back to work, the boss had the final say.

These workers, who do not want to be named, are more afraid of being dismissed (or even retaliated by personal retaliation) than their desire to return to work.

By Wednesday evening, Vietnamese officials finally said that the strike had ended and there were no serious casualties. The two sides have reached a consensus that the salary increase will be 10%. But considering the safety factors, the factory will continue to shut down in the next three days.

George Lin, general manager of Qing Lu, refused to show up. But in a written statement issued on Wednesday, he said he was willing to accept suggestions from the local government trade union organizations to find a most effective way to stop production and stop production.

In 2006, the Vietnamese government had raised the minimum wage standard for foreign workers in the country by 25%, and increased 12% in 2007. In January this year, Hanoi took the lead in raising salaries by 13%.

But Vietnam's official inflation rate has reached 9.5%, an increase of 10% over the same period last year, and the consumer price index also rose 19% over last year. So it is not difficult to understand why strikes are becoming more common in Vietnam.

Last November 29th, 14 thousand shoe makers asked for a raise in Nike's shoe factory in DongNai, a small town around Hu Zhiming, when the average monthly wage of the factory was $62, which was 20% higher than the national minimum wage.

At that time, a spokesman for Nike acknowledged that Nike had also seen strikes in several shoe factories in Vietnam.