More than 3,000 workers at a factory for the Italian sofa maker DeCoro in Shenzhen took to the streets on 2 November after three of their colleagues were allegedly badly beaten by their Italian supervisors amid a dispute over pay cuts.

The angry workers marched from the factory in Pingshan Industrial Zone in Shenzhen to a highway during the protest, according to the South China Morning Post. They shouted "Stop violence, restore justice and protect our human rights" but they were later dispersed by riot police armed with shields and clubs on that day.

The dispute between the workers and the factory management erupted after workers learned last week that their wages for October were lower than usual, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported. A group of 10 workers was dismissed for confronting management over the pay cut issue. When those workers tried to re-enter the factory on 1 November, they were surrounded by four or five "foreign" supervisors and beaten, the reports said.

Three workers were hospitalised for treatment. "I was the first to be beaten. He pulled me up and punched me hard in my stomach. I was knocked out for a few seconds. He stamped on my face while I was lying on the ground. It was really humiliating," Liang Tian, one of the injured workers, told the SCMP. Another worker, Li Fangwei, was quoted as saying: "They regularly beat Chinese workers. They are likes wolves. They are racists and treat us like slaves."

A worker told the SCMP that they had reported the beating incident to the police but the police did nothing about that. "We don't trust the authorities anymore. We will protect ourselves," the worker said.

After hearing the news that three of their colleagues were beaten by their Italian supervisors, hundreds of workers from the factory strongly demanded an apology from the factory management and urged the company to punish the supervisors. On 2 November, DeCoro president Luca Ricci wrote a letter of apology to the three workers and called for a return to work.

Many workers remained angry about the way the factory management handled the pay cut and the beating incident. They said the company was making good profits, but it still planned to cut their wages. About 80 workers earlier refused to accept a pay cut and they were dismissed in September. The workers are now pursuing legal action, the reports said.

DeCoro was established in 1997 with registered capital of US$2.5 million. About three-quarters of the Shenzhen factory's products are sold to the United States. Its total revenue has been estimated at US$240 million this year.
 

Sources: South China Morning Post (3 November 2005), Southern Metropolis Daily (2 November 2005), Associated Press (3 November 2005)