Termination of employees over Xiamen strike is ruled illegal

In a case reported on 9 June 2014, an employment disputes arbitration tribunal in Xiamen ruled that a company’s unilateral termination of employees for participating in a strike was illegal. The arbitration tribunal held that the basis for the strike was reasonable and therefore the strike did not constitute a serious violation of company policy.

The company planned to relocate its Xiamen factory in January 2014. When the company announced its plan to compensate employees for the relocation, the factory employees refused to accept the compensation plan and on 13 February 2014, approximately 40 employees went on strike. The strike lasted for two weeks and afterwards the company unilaterally terminated all the employees who had participated in the strike on the basis that it was a serious violation of company policy. The employees challenged the termination and submitted the dispute to arbitration.