On June 26, hundreds of employees of the e-commerce platform Dewu, located in the warehouse in Langfang City, Hebei Province, went on strike demanding unpaid wages. However, they were met with a crackdown by a large number of security guards and police. As of now, the employees have not received the owed wages.
Dewu (full name Dewu APP) is an e-commerce platform that attracts a large number of sneaker, fashion, and trendy culture enthusiasts. Its products include sneakers, trendy brands, figurines, and other popular items among young people. The company operates logistics warehouses in Shanghai, Wuhan, Langfang, and other places.
Recently, a financial dispute between the logistics warehouse in Langfang and its cooperative partner, Shandong Qisheng Development Cloud Warehouse, led to wage arrears.
On June 26, hundreds of employees at the Dewu warehouse in Langfang staged a strike. Some of the employees who participated in the strike spoke to the reporters at Da Ji Yuan on June 29 to recount the events.
One of the employees, Li Jie (pseudonym), a recent high school graduate, joined Dewu through a labor intermediary agency half a month ago, intending to earn some tuition fees for college during the summer job. However, she did not receive her salary and was subsequently dismissed. After factoring in her living expenses for the past half month, she found herself spending close to a thousand yuan out of pocket.
Li Jie told the reporters that June 25 was the payday, but the salaries were not distributed. The employees started the strike, and the next day, hundreds of employees were directly dismissed.
On June 26, approximately hundreds of employees gathered in front of the company chanting slogans demanding their wages and preventing the company from transporting goods. Li Jie said, “If the goods were taken away, we might not know whom to ask for the money, and both money and goods would be lost.”
The company brought in a large number of security guards holding shields from outside, forming a line in front of the company. In the afternoon, dozens of police officers also arrived and set up a cordon. Li Jie mentioned that the employees stayed at the scene until the early hours of the 27th. The company finally promised to pay the salaries next week.
Another female employee, Xu Fenghua (pseudonym), told the reporters that on the 26th, the police even pushed a pregnant woman, causing her leg to be scratched. Several leading employees were arrested by the police at that time.
According to Xu Fenghua, the wage arrears issue has been longstanding. She joined the company at the end of August last year. On December 20 last year, at 11 pm, the company suddenly notified all employees to re-register their personal information after work. On the 21st, the company was divided into two parts, with some employees belonging to Dewu and others to Shandong Qisheng Development Cloud Warehouse.
Xu Fenghua stated, “The next day, we were informed that we no longer belonged to Dewu; we were under Qisheng Cloud Warehouse. Even the vest changed; Dewu’s employees wore blue vests, while we wore red vests.”
According to Xu Fenghua, Dewu outsourced part of the Langfang warehouse to Shandong Qisheng Development Cloud Warehouse. Since Qisheng took over the company, salary payments started to be delayed.
Xu Fenghua mentioned that during the Chinese New Year, the company made them work overtime from 8 am to 12 midnight, even during the holidays. It was promised that an incentive bonus of 5,000 yuan would be given for working overtime during the New Year. When the employees inquired at Qisheng Cloud Warehouse, they mentioned having incentives as well, but as of March 10, the bonuses were not paid. Some of the labor dispatch staff had their wages advanced by the labor service company, while some did not receive the incentive bonus.
“Since then, every month’s salary has been delayed, consistently.” Xu Fenghua said. It is understood that some employees have not been paid for over three months, with amounts reaching tens of thousands of yuan.
Xu Fenghua revealed that after Qisheng Cloud Warehouse took over, they incurred a loss of tens of millions within six months. “Dewu was afraid that they would leave, so they didn’t pay Qisheng for two months, leading Qisheng to refuse to renew the contract. They directly told us that our contracts were expiring, dismissed us all, without paying salaries. Dewu claimed to have given the money to Qisheng Cloud Warehouse, but the warehouse did not pay us.”
Li Jie also disclosed that she heard Dewu transferred the funds to Qisheng, but Qisheng did not pay the employees their salaries. Instead, they invested in other industries, causing losses.
They further mentioned that internal sources hinted that Dewu might possibly transfer the goods from the Langfang warehouse to Shanghai or Wuhan warehouse, temporarily close the Langfang warehouse, and lay off the current hourly workers, third-party employees, and short-term workers. However, there were also reports claiming that some formal employees of Qisheng Cloud Warehouse might be transferred to Dewu.
Da Ji Yuan reporters called Dewu, and a staff member who answered the call stated that there was a payment settlement issue between the local third-party warehouse manpower service provider and the outsourced personnel. Dewu and the third-party service provider have documented proof of payment settlement. The service provider mainly handles tasks such as goods handling and outbound at the warehouse. While this issue briefly affected normal warehousing operations, the local management department actively supported Dewu in resolving the matter, which has been properly handled. Currently, the warehousing work in Langfang has been taken over by Dewu’s own employees and has resumed.
In summary, the financial dispute between Dewu and Qisheng Cloud Warehouse has led to wage arrears. Currently, their respective claims differ, and the Da Ji Yuan reporters have been unable to contact Qisheng. It seems that the dispute is ultimately burdensome for the employees, but whether the employees will receive their full salaries remains unknown.
Li Jie expressed that this was her first foray into the workforce to earn money and through this experience, she realized the darker side of society.
Xu Fenghua, on the other hand, mentioned that she had planned to resign by the end of this month and find a more stable job but was unexpectedly dismissed with unpaid wages.
“Since the change to the cloud warehouse, many of the old employees have left. I had also considered leaving, but I couldn’t because I have young children at home. I could only endure the pressure and work hard. Finally, this month, I made up my mind to change jobs once the salary is paid. Even if the salary is lower, as long as it is stable, it’s fine. I never expected it to escalate to this extent,” Xu Fenghua said.