Coronavirus: Chinese workers in Vietnam cry foul after being fired by Taiwanese firm making shoes for Nike, Adidas | South China Morning Post
Pou Chen makes footwear for the likes of Nike and Adidas, but says it has suffered from a lack of orders as global value chains strain under the impact from the virus
Chinese workers moved to Vietnam to help set-up new factories as the company expand its production, but have now become expendable
A group of 150 Chinese workers believe the world’s largest maker of trainers used the coronavirus as an excuse to fire them, having helped Taiwanese firm Pou Chen successfully expand its production into Vietnam for more than a decade.
Pou Chen, which makes footwear for the likes of Nike and Adidas, informed the group in late April that they would no longer be needed as they were unable to return to Vietnam
from their hometowns in China due to the coronavirus lockdowns.
“We believe we contributed greatly to the firm’s relocation process, copying the production line management experience and successful model of China’s factories to Vietnamese factories,” said Dave Zhang, who started working for Pou Chen in Vietnam in 2003.
“Now, when the factories over there have matured, and there is a higher automation level in production, our value has faded in the management’s eyes and we got laid off, in the name of the coronavirus pandemic.”
#Covid-19#migrant#migration#Chine#Taiwan#Vietnam#Travailleurmigrant#diasporachinoise
▻https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3083547/coronavirus-chinese-workers-vietnam-cry-foul-after-being
Chinese workers moved to Vietnam to help set-up new factories as the company expand its production, but have now become expendable