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Beijing Workers still Holding U.S. Boss Over Pay
NTDTV·Published on Jun 26, 2013
U.S. executive Chip Starnes enters his sixth day of captivity over a pay dispute at a Beijing factory.
Full Story:
A U.S. businessman being held captive by disgruntled workers at this factory on the outskirts of Beijing says he is hopeful the row will be resolved soon. Chip Starnes, president of the Florida-based Specialty Medical Supplies, has been held since Friday in a dispute over pay. The 42-year-old said that he has not been physically harmed, but that workers are trying to intimidate him.
According to Starnes, about 100 employees are demanding severance packages following rumors he was shutting the plant down. Starnes said he moved part of the production line to India due to rising costs in China, but that no more layoffs were planned. In a brief meeting with reporters, he said he was confident the dispute would be solved soon.
{Chip Starnes, Co-Owner of Coral Springs}:
"So you know some things happen, some rumors happen, and I think a little flexibility on both sides will fix all that."
But one Chinese official told reporters that there had not been any progress in negotiations so far. He added that Starnes had not paid salaries for two months, prompting fears the plant would shutter without fairly compensating workers.
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2 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Poor Chip, just shopping for the absolute cheapest labor he can get as any good MBA would do, finds out that while the Chinese do work for dirt cheap wages you *can* push them too far.
It's like a lot of labor disputes -- but the twist here is that the local government has a stake in supporting the workers over the executive. So, Chip doesn't have the local police to act as his enforcers.
And as a result, things are complicated.
Seems like U.S. taxes might pay for something after all! 
...is two months behind on salaries.
- Just an idea, but maybe he should take care of that first.....
