More than 300 workers at a shoe company in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, blocked a highway for more than an hour on the morning of 15 October after their Taiwanese employer who owed them three months wages disappeared.

The highway is close to the factory in Wanggang Village, Baiyun District. Riot police cleared the barriers set up by the protesters, according to China Daily. The workers had blocked all six lanes of the highway with benches and stopped some drivers from going through. The local police later dispersed the striking workers and resumed the traffic.

The workers said they had not received any pay since July, except for about 500 yuan (US$62) before the National Day holiday on 1 October. They estimated that the company owed them 1.5 million yuan (US$185,000) in unpaid wages.

The factory owner and managers disappeared on 14 October. The factory owner, surnamed Wu, sent out a fax to the company staff on that day saying that the factory was bankrupt.

Source: China Daily (17 October 2005)