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Throughout the Mainland, Chinese factory workers are taking action against low wages and lack of other benefits. We begin today by looking at two factories in China, where workers are speaking out to protect their rights. Here's more.

Chinese workers strikes are emerging one after another across China in the New Year.

In the northeastern port city of Dalian, thousands of beer factory workers began a strike against low wages. Workers from five workshops in Snow Breweries stopped working and gathered in front of the company building on Thursday morning.

The company was bought in February from Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev last year. Sources alleged that after the company was acquired, managers' wages had been upgraded to the standard of foreign-owned enterprises, but their workers' rights have long been neglected.

Meanwhile, in the southwestern city of Chengdu, state-owned Pangang Steel workers walked out to protest last Wednesday. On Friday, on their third day protesting, local authorities deployed three thousand riot police to the scene to clear out the area around five o'clock in the afternoon. Some workers were arrested after being beaten up by armed police. Workers couldn't confront the authorities, so they had to start working again.

[Pangang Steel Worker]:
"There's certainly hasn't been any progress in the negotiations since the police started to repress. Now the production resumes. We are unarmed workers, and we wouldn't dare to confront the police and the authorities."

One Pangang Steel worker said the company had promised workers a raise of 260 yuan—but still far from the expected raise of 800 yuan.