Last week, a high-tech listed company in Shenzhen experienced a two-day strike by workers. Hundreds of workers were dissatisfied with the management forcing them to move to places like Dongguan and Hubei, but refusing to provide compensation for resignation. The workers stated that the strike lasted for two days, during which they sought help from the local government, but received no response.
From July 8th to 9th, a large-scale strike occurred at Xinhao Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. in Tangxia, Baoan District, Shenzhen. Hundreds of employees collectively ceased work to protest against the company’s forced resignation under the guise of “relocation” without offering proper financial compensation.
One of the participants in the strike, Mr. Zhang (pseudonym), told Epoch Times on July 15th that on June 24th, the company suddenly issued an internal notice announcing the relocation of several departments such as the 2.5D workshop in Shenzhen to Dongguan, Huangshi in Hubei, and Enshi. They also required employees to sign a “voluntary” relocation or stay in Shenzhen agreement. “Last Tuesday and Wednesday, hundreds of workers went on strike. The company asked for twenty representatives to negotiate with them, and the dispute has not been resolved yet,” said Mr. Zhang.
Mr. Zhang mentioned that the company’s supposed “freedom of choice for employees” was just a pretext; in reality, it was a tactic to force employees to resign by transferring them to lower-paying positions and evade legal compensation responsibilities. “The so-called job transfer is just a term. In reality, staying in Shenzhen only offers low-paying positions of 5 days and 8 hours, no overtime. It’s like they want us to leave by ourselves due to low pay, so they won’t have to compensate us,” Mr. Zhang added. He also said, “Many have been working at the factory for five or six years or even ten years. The company just wants to save money by driving away senior employees.”
Xinhao Optoelectronics is a high-tech enterprise that went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s Growth Enterprise Market in August 2021. The company’s 2023 annual report shows that it has multiple factories in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Hubei, among other areas, gradually relocating its production capacity in recent years to reduce operating costs.
According to a notice given to all employees by Xinhao Optoelectronics, relocating workshops to other locations is part of the company’s “strategic layout for development.” Employees can “freely choose to work at other subsidiary companies”, including Daho in Dongguan, Xinbo in Huangshi, Xinhuo in Enshi, and Xinhuo in Chuzhou.
Several workers mentioned that the strike mainly affected the 2.5D workshop, leading to the halt of some production lines. Currently, workers have reported the issue to local labor authorities, demanding the company compensate employees who are unwilling to relocate. However, the labor department has not taken any actions yet, leading to their plea being shared online in hopes of gaining more public attention.
Public information indicates that Xinhao Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., headquartered in Shenzhen, was established in 2013 with a registered capital of 120 million RMB. After merging with its subsidiary Xinhuo Technology (Guangdong) (with a registered capital of approximately 220 million RMB), the company became a manufacturer of touch panels, cover glass, and specialized applications in fields like car networking, military, and medical. Its products are mainly sold in markets such as Vietnam, the Philippines, and the US.
Another worker, Ms. Liu, mentioned that declining market demand and orders led to a drop in the company’s profits last year. The company began reducing work hours. “In the past, we relied on overtime pay to make a living. Now that wages have suddenly decreased, even paying rent has become an issue. The management doesn’t provide us with clear answers, saying we refuse company arrangements, but the new positions are completely different from the old ones, and we might not have the skills for them.”
Mentioning a similar incident, a former member of a non-governmental organization in Shenzhen, Mr. Wang, stated during the Epoch Times interview that Xinhao Optoelectronics’ actions were nothing new. Previously, a listed company in Shenzhen, Inwiteng Fuyong Base, had a collective strike related to forcing workers to move. “Under the guise of relocating the factory, they indirectly force employees to ‘voluntarily resign’, and then evade the N+1 compensation responsibility. This is a common tactic among many labor-intensive companies,” Mr. Wang expressed.
Mr. Wang elaborated that many companies would arrange for workers to move to unsustainable positions, even suspending bonuses, reducing shifts, and lowering output, making employees “unable to endure”, thereby legally dealing with “zero compensation”. “Local governments, in order to attract investment, often turn a blind eye to these companies, leaving very limited room for legitimate rights protection,” he urged the Shenzhen Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Department to investigate and safeguard workers’ legitimate rights.
This is the second similar labor dispute in Shenzhen within two weeks. From June 23rd to 24th, nearly two hundred workers at Inwiteng Electric Co., Ltd.’s Fuyong base in Shenzhen went on strike. The workers refused the management’s attempt to assign them to work in Zhongshan. They expressed concerns about the long commutes between Fuyong and Zhongshan, exceeding three hours, which would not only increase living costs but could also lead to disguised pay cuts or even layoffs.
Epoch Times contacted Xinhao Optoelectronics’ human resources department, and staff mentioned that they are “currently negotiating with employees”. The Shenzhen Baoan District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau did not answer the calls.