Hundreds of Nokia workers in China were spotted shouting slogans outside a Nokia plant in the southern city of Dongguan on Wednesday protesting Nokia’s decision to sell its mobile business to Microsoft.
“Legally protect our rights” and “Demand fair compensation” were the slogans that were heard outside the Nokia plant, reported Reuters. The angry workers are claiming that the deal between the two big tech giants might leave them with a pay cut affecting their compensation. There are not less than 5,000 employees at Nokia’s Dongguan plant.
“We will definitely continue to fight until we get what’s fair,” shouted a young male worker surnamed Zhang.
An unnamed source close to the matter said “A small group of employees is taking this as an opportunity to demand severance packages despite the fact that their jobs will continue”.
Some witnesses said that workers were beaten up by the Local riot police on Wednesday morning, while Nokia responded that “Our manufacturing operations in Dongguan continue”.
“To accommodate the temporary situation, we have also adjusted our operations in other manufacturing facilities.”
However in an interview with the Reuters, six of the workers told that they had not heard from management at all. “They haven’t shown any sincerity in talking to us, and they won’t do anything until things reach a critical stage,” said a worker who worked at the factory for two years.
Such protest is not associated with Nokia alone; last year hundreds of Motorola employees in Beijing and Nanjing protested the job cuts brought about after the firm’s acquisition by Google.
