2010 Suzhou workers riot () was an incident that occurred on January 15, 2010 in Suzhou,

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

involving workers dissatisfied with the company's treatment of its employees as well as compensation problems.

Background

The event took place at the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

owned "United Win technology" company () located at the Suzhou Industrial Park.Chinadigitaltimes.net.
Chinadigitaltimes.net
" ''Workers riot in Suzhou.'' Retrieved on 2010-01-16. The company was built in 1999 as a mainland branch of the Taiwan company Wintek ().USqiaobao.com.

." ''iPhone供应商苏州工厂2000员工暴动特警出动 pg1.'' Retrieved on 2010-01-16. The company manufactures screens for devices for

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

and many other companies. Apple iPhone screens is an important part of the business.

Incident

For a long time the company had been suffering from poor management of staff, bonus compensation problems and poor catering services. In 2008 the company wide bonuses were canceled due to the economic down turn. In 2009 a factory employee provided info to a reporter about being poisoned on the job. The company switched from the regularly used alcohol to a more toxic and dangerous

ethane Ethane ( , ) is an organic chemical compound with chemical formula . At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas. Like many hydrocarbons, ethane is isolated on an industrial scale from natural gas and as a petroc ...

solvent. In September 2009 some employees came in contact with the chemicals.USqiaobao.com.
USqiaobao.com
" ''iPhone供应商苏州工厂2000员工暴动特警出动 pg2.'' Retrieved on 2010-01-16. Also, according to a report of the 83 suppliers in China, 45 did not pay overtime costs to its employees. Another 23 suppliers were paying below the minimum wage. On January 15, 2009 at 8:45 to 9 am about 2000 factory workers gathered at the company and began destroying the factory properties.Sina.com.

." ''蘇州台企聯建科技勞資糾紛事件平息已恢複生產.'' Retrieved on 2010-01-16. The workers also blocked a road and threw stones at the police.Xinhuanet.com.

" ''Workers of Taiwan company protest over labor dispute .'' Retrieved on 2010-01-16.

References

Suzhou Workers Riot, 2010 Riots and civil disorder in China Suzhou workers riot History of Suzhou Suzhou Industrial Park {{Suzhou-stub