yet ANOTHER reason why china is better than us

Chinese steel workers beat takeover boss to death over job cuts

Staff at state works told 25,000 jobs would go within days in takeover by private firm

Workers who beat to death a steel firm executive in north-east China had been told that 25,000 of them would lose their jobs in a takeover, according to sources quoted by state media.

Officials in Jilin province ordered the deal to be scrapped after the death of Chen Guojun, the general manager of the Jianlong Steel Holding Company, on Friday.

Beijing-based Jianlong is one of the largest private steelmakers in China. It planned to take a majority stake in the state giant Tonghua Iron and Steel Group, which makes about 7m tonnes of steel a year.

But workers at Tonghua believed it would axe thousands of jobs. A demonstration halted production at the site and quickly escalated into violence.

"Employees [many of whom are shareholders] are close to enjoying financial gains as the price of steel continues to rise," a police officer told the official newspaper China Daily.

"Then Chen disillusioned workers and provoked them by saying most of them would be laid off in three days. Chen, saying that a total number of 30,000 employees would be cut to 5,000, infuriated the crowd."

According to state media, Jianlong had held a sizable stake in Tonghua since 2005 and had been instrumental in restructuring the company. Last year Jianlong left the partnership following poor results – reportedly leading workers to celebrate with firecrackers.

But as the price of steel rebounded, aided by the government's stimulus package, Tonghua's prospects improved and Jianlong sought a majority stake in the firm .

An initial report from a Hong Kong-based human rights organisation suggested that 30,000 workers were involved in the riot – making it easily China's largest mass disturbance since an incident in Weng'an, Guizhou, last summer.

But other internet postings put the figures at about 10,000, while the state news agency Xinhua suggested 1,000 people were involved and China Daily reported 3,000.

Xinhua said an investigation by the Jilin government showed that protesters rushed into the factory and halted production.

It added: "A small number of the protesters found the injured manager who [had] been hidden and beat him repeatedly, while some others blocked the roads in the factory to prevent the police and ambulances from reaching the manager."

The Beijing News reported that employees began assaulting Chen after he demanded they resume work.

They only halted their blockade of the plant at about 10pm, after local news reported that officials had ordered Jianlong to abandon their bid.

The reorganisation of state enterprises in the late 1990s saw mass lay-offs, with 10 million losing their jobs annually.

But Hong Kong-based labour researcher Geoff Crothall said: "It's not just about state-owned enterprises [being taken over] but about the lack of consultation with workers in general – managers presenting arbitrary, unilateral decisions.

"In most cases [redundancy pay] is a pretty derisory sum … Sometimes they get pension benefits, sometimes they don't. If people made redundant are middle-aged or elderly their job prospects are very slim, especially if they have been doing one job all their lives. If you are getting into your mid-30s, its increasingly difficult to find a job."

Crothall, of China Labour Bulletin, said workers had reportedly complained that wages at Tonghua had been cut to as little as 300 yuan (£26) a month and that the management had turned off heating in the factory and dormitories during the winter.

No one could be reached at Tonghua headquarters and staff at Jianlong declined to comment.

"Then Chen disillusioned workers and provoked them by saying most of them would be laid off in three days. Chen, saying that a total number of 30,000 employees would be cut to 5,000, infuriated the crowd."