Chinese Steel Workers Riot (2009)

Fri Jul 24, 2009

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Image: Tonghua Steel workers gathered together on July 24th, 2009 [libcom.org]

On this day in 2009, a group of Chinese steel workers at Tonghua Iron and Steel Group rioted and beat their general manager to death after being informed that 25,000 workers would lose their jobs in a private takeover of the company.

The private takeover was to be done by the Beijing-based Jianlong Steel, one of the country’s largest private producers of steel. After steel prices increased, Jianlong sought to acquire a majority stake in Tonghua.

The amount of workers involved in the riot is anywhere from 1,000 - 30,000 (depending on the source), but, in any case, enraged workers beat Jianlong general manager Chen Guojun to death after he informed them of the takeover. Workers also blocked first responders from reaching the scene.

The violence took place in the context of a larger protest in which workers had rushed into the factory and halted production.