Embassy seeks protection for Chinese businesses, people
GREATER NOIDA: Representatives of the Chinese embassy approached Gautam Budh Nagar police on Wednesday seeking protection of Chinese establishments and its nationals working in the region.
The move comes a day after violence broke out at Vivo’s manufacturing plant due to labour unrest in Greater Noida.
The Chinese embassy representatives, along with a team of Vivo officials, met senior police officials in the district and expressed their concern about the violence at Vivo’s handset manufacturing unit on Tuesday.
The police in turn assured their support to the delegation. They also urged the delegation to provide them details of other Chinese establishments in the area so that police can react swiftly in the future.
Chinese handset maker, Vivo, has been operating a plant in Greater Noida for almost two years. Since its inception, the company has employed more than 15,000 workers (a mix of both Chinese and Indian nationals) in its Greater Noida’s unit.
While the company had employed some of the men on its pay rolls, a major section of workers are employed in the factory on a contractual basis.
According to sources, during the 10th edition of IPL T20 tournament this year, the company had hired a large chunk of workers on contracts, but started retrenchment after the end of the IPL season.
Furthermore, company sources revealed that their sales have come down in the last couple of months. So far, about 700 contractual employees have been handed pink slips without any notice and more layoffs are in the pipeline.
Tuesday’s incident, where about 60-70 workers ransacked the factory and reportedly stole cell phone consignments, posed a serious threat to their business, Vivo officials said.