Workers in several parts of China say they returned from the National Day holiday to find their workplaces emptied of equipment, managers gone, and months of wages still unpaid, according to workers and videos circulating on Chinese social media.
The reports emerged as China’s seven-day National Day holiday, which ran from Oct. 1 to 7 this year, was drawing to a close. Some workers said they found their factories stripped of machinery and workstations, leaving behind little more than discarded materials and trash.
The reports, documented in social media posts and interviews by the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times, have raised concerns among workers over unpaid wages and the sudden disappearance of business owners. The workers spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
In some cases, workers said they believed factory owners used the holiday period to remove equipment and close their businesses without notifying employees.
One worker in Xiaogan, Hubei Province, surnamed Zhao, told The Epoch Times on Oct. 6 that the hardware and plastics factory where he worked had been moved out and the owner had disappeared.
“The boss has fled,” Zhao said. “I’m just a temporary worker. They have been delaying [wage payments] every day.”
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Unpaid Wages
In Putian, Fujian Province, a worker surnamed Dong told The Epoch Times that employees at a small shoe factory were also struggling to recover unpaid wages.
Dong said that on Oct. 3, workers at his former factory attempted to pressure the owner over unpaid wages.
“The boss hasn’t fled. He just said there’s no money and told us to wait for a while,” he said.
The factory, which employed several dozen people, had not formally declared bankruptcy, according to Dong. He said the owner had diverted funds into other ventures and no longer had enough money to pay workers.
“I’m owed more than two months of wages,” he said regarding his former workplace.
The reports extend beyond individual factories.
In Yongkang, Zhejiang Province, a woman surnamed Sun told The Epoch Times that her parents worked at a factory producing insulated cups where more than 60 employees had gone three months without wages.
The factory owner had disappeared, she said.
During the holiday, her parents and other workers remained outside the factory for about a week to prevent the remaining equipment from being removed.
“My mom and dad were guarding the factory entrance during the holiday, afraid that someone would take away the things inside,” Sun said.
She said she did not know how much money the factory owed its workers.
Some workers have also described taking precautions against the possibility that their employers would disappear during the holiday.
Multiple videos circulating online showed workers complaining that factories had been emptied while they were away. Workers said the owners had sold or removed equipment during the holiday, leaving workers with little recourse over unpaid wages.
The accounts could not be independently verified by The Epoch Times.
The problem was not limited to factories. A woman surnamed Yang in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, told The Epoch Times that the owner of her local gym also disappeared during the holiday, leaving behind a failing business.
The reports offer a glimpse of the uncertainty facing some Chinese workers and small business owners as struggling businesses shut down with little warning. For workers already owed months of wages, the sudden disappearance of an employer can leave them trying to recover money after the business itself has effectively vanished.
Tang Bing and Gu Xiaohua contributed to this report.
