LIFE> Odds and Ends
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LIFE> Odds and Ends
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Manager killed in plant riot
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-27 09:47 The demonstration led to a halt in production at all of the seven blast furnaces belonging to the steel manufacturer, which has a yearly throughput of about seven million tons. Jianlong held 49 percent of shares in Tonghua between 2005 and the start of 2009, and restructured the company. Last year, the joint venture experienced significant economic losses due to the global financial crisis, leading to a drop in production and cuts in salaries, causing discontent among workers. One netizen said the murder at the end of last year of Song Kai, the head of a Tonghua-affiliated steel mill, allegedly at the hands of a 28-year-old worker, was another example of the friction between management and workers in the joint venture. Jianlong left the partnership in March and workers reportedly celebrated with fireworks. This month, Tonghua State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission reported that the company, which "went through some very tough challenges in past 10 years", had made a profit of 42.7 million yuan ($6.2 million) in June. But on July 22, workers learned that Jianlong had secured more than 50 percent of the company's shares, giving it full control. Local government representatives announced on Friday night that the deal would now be shelved permanently and the crowd dispersed. Jianlong and Tonghua are respectively ranked 158th and 244th in the top 500 Chinese companies. |
