A Vietnamese worker was killed on Thursday in a strike at a Taiwanese enterprise at an industrial park in Hanoi, in the latest dispute over low wages at Taiwanese companies.
The workers of the Just Special Material Co went on strike on Thursday, one week after they threatened to do so, saying that the boss was not sincere about wanting to settle a wage dispute.
A security guard at the Just Special Material Co drove a vehicle through a crowd of workers on strike at the plant, killing one person and injuring six, including a pregnant woman.
The company is a 10-year-old Taiwanese enterprise in the Phu Nghia Industrial Park in Chuong My district, which mainly produces parts and components for automobiles and motorcycles.
The owner of the enterprise, Wang Yi-teh (王意德), said in a telephone interview with CNA on Thursday that the company would accept full responsibility for the incident and would take care of the injured and the family of the deceased.
Wang said the security guard had been supplied by an outsourcing company, and it was therefore difficult for Just Special to exercise any control over him.
Taiwanese enterprises in Vietnam have recently been beset by a series of strikes over low pay. About a month ago, a worker was stabbed in clash between employees during a strike at an industrial park near Hanoi. A Taiwanese businessman, who asked not to be named, said that strikes were a common occurrence in Vietnam.
Taiwanese businesspeople have been paying Vietnamese workers in accordance with government regulations in the country, he said.
In fact, most Taiwanese enterprises pay their workers more than the minimum wage, but rising inflation in Vietnam has made it difficult for workers there to make ends meet, he said.
Taiwan businesspeople in Vietnam have tried hard to increase the income of their workers by paying overtime and offering food and transportation subsidies, he said.
However, these efforts are not enough to keep pace with rising inflation and consumer prices in the country, he added.
Through the mediation of Taiwan’s representative offices in Vietnam, Taiwanese businesspeople had several meetings with Vietnamese labor officials, but were unable to avert the strikes, which were illegal, he said.
Most of the Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are in the manufacturing sector and the main consideration is cheap labor, according to another Taiwanese entrepreneur.
“Faced with the pressure of rising wages, we may have to consider other alternatives,” he said.
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