On 16 July 2018, Mi Jiuping and Liu Penghua were dismissed by Jasic Technology in Shenzhen, southern China, and then beaten by thugs. The pair were accused by company management of trying to form an “illegal” trade union at Jasic Technology Co Ltd, a privately owned manufacturer of industrial welding equipment.
The workers’ campaign to form an independent union began in May after working conditions at the factory in Shenzhen’s Pingshan district had reportedly deteriorated to the point where workers said the company was treating them “like slaves”. Management had cheated them out of hundreds of yuan each month by arbitrarily changing their schedules and had underpaid their social insurance and housing fund contributions.
The workers took their grievances to the local Pingshan federation of trade unions office where staff suggested that they formally unionise as a means of resolving their issues with management. Jasic management, however, had already set up their own worker representatives’ committee which excluded the candidates the workers themselves had proposed.
When Mi and Liu tried to enter the plant on 20 July, they were stopped at the gates by security guards and after an altercation erupted, police intervened and a few workers were detained. Colleagues gathered in front of the police station and held a marathon protest over the weekend. All workers were subsequently released.
