Banks run out of cash as guards go on strike
Print Edition
Hundreds of employees at a cash escort company went on strike in a dispute over pay and gun rules in Guangdong’s provincial capital of Guangzhou yesterday.
Guards with the Guangzhou Suibao Escort and Convoy Co began gathering in front of the company gates in Baiyun District at 7am, preventing vehicles entering or leaving.
By 11am, many local bank branches had run out of cash, provincial news portal (http://gd.qq.com) reported.
Suibao has a virtual monopoly on transporting cash to banks around the city, it said.
At noon, some 50 strikers met company officials face to face to call for higher salaries and social insurance for employees, the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily reported.
Officials from Guangzhou’s human resources and social security bureau and police were also at the meeting, the newspaper reported.
Details of the gun rules dispute were not revealed.
The Banking Association of Guangdong said most bank branches in Guangzhou had been supplied with banknotes in the afternoon after some guards had been persuaded to go back to work.
On Saturday, one of the company’s guards was shot in the head when his shotgun discharged accidentally. He died despite emergency treatment. A police investigation is underway. It is not known if the strike was related to the accident.
On December 3, nearly 500 cash escort guards in Zhongshan, also in Guangdong, went on strike to protest against a proposal to cut welfare benefits, according to The Time Weekly.
Their company had reduced employees’ housing insurance funds and cut meal subsidies, the newspaper reported.
Each guard was paid 2,318 yuan (US$382.70) a month but pay was deducted for a number of reasons, including 200 yuan for being late.
One guard said they felt under great pressure with hundreds of millions of yuan in banknotes on the vehicle.
An anonymous veteran said most guards used to be retired soldiers but now most were young people because of the low pay. They were allowed to carry guns after just 60 days of training, which could lead to accidents, he said.
On December 4, the company agreed to raise salaries by 510 yuan a month, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
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