Riot police monitor compensation protest in Dongguan

By Tom Qian  |   2008-12-29  |     ONLINE EDITION

RIOT police are monitoring a protest today by several hundred workers outside the gates of a garment factory in Dongguan in Guangdong Province in support of the family of a dead colleague.

The worker, a cook in his early 40s, died on Friday after being on duty for more than 10 days.

His co-workers were demanding more compensation for the man's family, Guangzhou Daily reported today.

The man's wife and child arrived at the factory from Sichuan to negotiate a payment with the factory owner.

But his relatives were not satisfied with settlement proposed by the labor department and factory owner, and other workers thought the compensation ridiculous, according to the paper.

The protests were expected to escalate this afternoon if the factory owner failed to put forward an alternative compensation, according to the report.

No details of the cause of death or the settlement package were disclosed.