Cross-Strait Solidarity: Hong Kong & Taiwan labor activists take simultaneous action with Adidas workers in Guangzhou
Yesterday at 11:00 AM in Guangzhou, China, five factory workers marched in to the local Adidas office. The workers of Taiwanese-owned Dynamic Casting demanded that Adidas put a stop to the severe workplace injuries at their plant and pay fair compensation to those already suffering. The workers manufacture golf clubs for Adidas' TaylorMade golf brand.
The worker activists weren't alone. At the same time in Hong Kong and Taiwan, labor unions and other supporters held their own protests. The activists hold Adidas responsible for a disturbing pattern of benzene poisoning, lung disease, deafness and Hand/Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) at Dynamic Casting as well as Xingang Shoe Company in Dongguan. The demonstrations followed Friday's action by Adidas workers in Indonesia, which highlighted these two cases as well as their own case: the firing of 1,600 at Adidas soccer boot supplier PT Panarub Dwikarya for striking over the failure to pay the new minimum wage.
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