Striking Vietnamese 'hit with bars'

By Clare Arthurs BBC Hanoi correspondent

At least four Vietnamese men have been taken to hospital after a group of factory managers allegedly attacked striking workers with metal bars.

Local labour department officials told the BBC that several of the managers have been charged with breaking Vietnam's labour laws.

The incident is the latest in a series of strikes at a number of foreign-owned businesses.

The violence broke out at a factory in the southern province of Binh Dzuong, near Ho Chi Minh City.

Workers at the Dzoanh Duc furniture plant have been complaining about working long hours on low pay for some time. They say they were regularly forced to work five hours overtime, with some labouring through 24 hour shifts for no extra money.

Battle

Few of the workers had contracts and they say the company was refusing to pay their social and medical insurance.

On Tuesday a group of night shift workers decided they had had enough of the poor conditions and stopped work.

Twenty factory managers, said to be Chinese, allegedly attacked the strikers with steel bars. A running battle ensued and about 100 police were called in to calm the situation.

The general manager of the Taiwanese-owned furniture factory, Chen Chung Hoan, has apologised and promised to rectify the breaches of labour law within a fortnight.

Meanwhile, the factory has stopped production and the workers have been given time off.

The labour union has asked police and the local people's court to charge some of the managers with assault.

Many of the workers say as soon as they get the money they are owed they plan to find new jobs.

Binh Dzuong province is a centre for industry and hosts a number of foreign firms.

Last week the labour newspaper reported the case of a Ho Chi Minh City woman who was taken to hospital after a beating by an official in a South Korean company.