A Norwegian bag-making company yesterday settled a salary dispute with around 20 migrant workers from Guangdong Province, after a man appeared to faint with hunger while protesting about wages.
Chen Shixiao, from Dongguan in Guangdong, collapsed in front of Norway-based ITP Group’s canteen in the Pudong New Area on Monday afternoon.
The incident attracted media coverage and Chen claimed that he and fellow workers had only eaten a bowl of instant noodles since last Sunday as they had no money.
However, a senior official of ITP Group told Shanghai Daily that the worker had pretended to faint to seek public sympathy.
Chen said he was revived by medics at the Zhoupu Town People’s Hospital in the Pudong New Area.
He said the group came to Shanghai on December 1 to work for the company.
But when workers launched a strike last Friday over a wage dispute, ITP Group demanded back their canteen cards, claiming that they needed them to feed other staff who were still working.
“The company tried to use hunger to drag us down,” said another worker, surnamed Yin. He claimed all the workers had gone hungry and that Chen fainted in the end.
But an official of the company, who asked not to be named, told Shanghai Daily that the company had given them about 100 yuan (US$15)living expenses each when they came to work for them.
Moreover, the official said the workers were spotted dining at a restaurant after the company took back their dining cards.
But the company paid up and the workers left after each receiving 1,300 yuan.
