Workers from the Liaoyang Ferroalloy Factory in Liaoning province, began a sit-in that day that continued into the night. Some of these workers had not been paid their wages for up to 20 months.

Around 1:00 a.m., 900 cops tried to break up the sit-in, beating about 50 of the protesters and detaining three retirees who had helped organize the action.

Later that morning, about 2,000 workers angered by the police action surrounded the city government offices, demanding the release of the three organizers as well as their back pay. They were blocked by a cordon of 1,000 cops.

The workers carried signs saying, "Being owed wages is not a crime," and "Release the workers' representatives." After the deputy mayor promised that current and past wages, pensions, and living stipends for laid-off workers would be paid soon, the protesters went home.

The state-owned metals factory, which has been in operation for more than 40 years, is responsible for about 8,000 workers, including 1,300 retirees, and 1,000 who have been laid off.

Last February in the town of Yangjiazhangzi, also in Liaoning province, some 20,000 miners and their families organized demonstrations and battled the cops over three days in protest over mine closures and minimal severance pay.  
 
 
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