As of April 5, around 10,000 workers at a Taiwanese shoe company in Dong Nai continued their strike for the third day.

Thousands have walked off the job to protest low salaries and lousy meals at the Pouchen Vietnam Co., Ltd. based in Bien Hoa City. Those on the picket line threw mam tom (shrimp paste) and pig blood pudding on other workers for not joining the strike.

On the morning of April 5, the strikers gathered on National Highway 1K, causing traffic jams. The police were mobilized to keep order and seized one young man who was said to have attacked police. Those on strike surrounded the police officers, asking them to release the man.

Pouchen Vietnam’s management board has offered to raise salaries by 5 percent, but the workers have rejected this proposal and will continue with their strike.

PV