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The Vietnam News

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More than 10,000 workers making Nike shoes strike in Vietnam

HANOI - More than 10,000 workers at a factory that produces Nike shoes in southern Vietnam have gone on strike to demand higher supplemental pay and better lunches, a government labor official said Wednesday. The workers at South Korean-owned TaeKwang Vina Co, located in Dong Nai province about 60 kilometres north of Ho Chi Minh City, started the strike at lunchtime Tuesday, said Kieu Minh Sinh, an official of the provincial Labor Federation.

"We are holding talks with the workers and leaders of the company to find out the real cause of the strike and to find a solution," Sinh said. Groups of workers had sent letters to the management board in recent months containing a variety of demands, but management has taken no action, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. The demands included severance pay, more sick days, holiday bonuses and improved lunches at the company cafeteria. "We don't know yet when the workers will return to work," Sinh said.

TaeKwang Vina Co, established in 1994 with investment capital of more than 38 million dollars, produces shoes exclusively for US-based Nike. The company now has more than 14,000 workers. Footwear is Vietnam's third-largest export earner after crude oil and textiles. The country earned 3.2 billion dollars from footwear exports in the first 10 months of 2007, an increase of 10.3 per cent over the same period in 2006.

Deutsche Presse Agentur - November 28, 2007.