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Hundreds of Chinese workers strike in Shenzhen port demanding overtime pay

Hundreds of Chinese workers demanding overtime pay went on strike at one of the world's busiest ports, holding up thousands of shipping containers at the terminal in southern China, Hong Kong newspapers reported yesterday.

Crane operators and truck drivers at the Chiwan Container Terminal in the boomtown of Shenzhen stopped working at midnight on Tuesday, pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po in Hong Kong reported.

A man who answered the phone at the port's offices said services had partially resumed on Tuesday, but he refused to give more details.

Calls to the company's headquarters and the local government went unanswered because of the weeklong labor holiday in China.

More than 400 dock workers were unhappy about wages and have accused management of failing to pay them overtime as required by law, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported.

They staged a sit-in outside the container terminal's headquarters on Tuesday, the paper said. Police were called in to maintain order, but no violence was reported.

The Post quoted an unnamed worker who said they took industrial action on International Labor Day to express their anger.

"Many of us have sacrificed our health and spare time to work for the company. We only have one or two days of rest each month. The company should treat us better," the man was quoted as saying.

Dockers earn about 4,000 yuan (US$519) on average per month, the paper reported. The wage is considered high as government statistics showed the national average monthly urban wage last year was 980 yuan (US$127).

Chiwan Container Terminal is one of the world's busiest according to its Web site.

Chiwan Container Terminal is a joint venture among Chiwan Wharf Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong's Kerry Holdings Ltd and Hidoney Development Ltd.
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