Bank escort company workers on strike

About 100 workers at a major Guangzhou-based bank escort company went on strike on Feb 11, affecting the cash business of many banks in Guangdong's provincial capital.

The workers stood in front of the company's gate and crowded nearby roads in the morning, appealing for higher salaries and improvements in the company's management of firearms.

The strike at Guangzhou Sui Bao Escort & Convoy is reportedly the result of a fatal accident on Feb 8, when an escort was killed when his shotgun accidentally discharged.

According to Nanfang Daily, the strike held up the cash business of many Guangzhou banks. Customers couldn't get cash at the counter and needed to go to ATMs. Some banks also suspended deposit service because the escort company failed to deliver official seals to the banks.

China Business News quoted a policeman at the scene of the strike as saying that the escort company is in charge of 80 to 90 percent of Guangzhou's cash escort market.

Some complaints from the escorts on strike were a low monthly salary of about 2,000 yuan ($330); no subsidy for overtime work; no salary raises in years; and poor accommodations, according to the newspaper.

The escort company's general manager agreed to offer a salary raise of 500 yuan on Feb 21, the newspaper added.

The city's police announced on its micro blog at 11 am that it was coordinating at the strike scene. The police reasserted that people should make their appeals legally and rationally without infringing on others' legal rights.