Vietnam Shoe Factory Workers Strike For Salary Increase

More than 20 thousand workers from a Vietnamese shoe factory in Taiwan have asked for a pay rise of 20% to cope with the rising cost of living.

The shoemaking factory where labor is running is in Longan province.

This factory manufactures shoes for Nike (Nike Inc).

At present, the average monthly salary of workers is 59 US dollars (nearly 82 yuan).

Ruan Wen Cheng, a trade union member of Longan Province, said that in addition to asking for a raise, workers also asked the factory canteen to provide better quality lunches.

This factory has been producing sports shoes since 2002, employing about 21 thousand workers, most of them young rural women.

Factories give workers a 14% higher wage than the minimum wage, but Runvel pointed out that inflation has put workers on the edge.

Vietnam's consumer prices rose by 19% over the same period last year.

This factory is one of Nike's ten contract manufacturers in Vietnam.

Nike has not responded to reporters' questions.