Workers end protest of working conditions

Workers at a Nokia factory in Dongguan, an industrial city in Guangdong province, have called off a protest against possible unfair employment conditions that arose after the sale of the company’s mobile phone business to Microsoft, local government authority sources said.

Xiao Longfu, a publicity officer with the Dongguan government, said the company and the police had handled the case “in a polite and peaceful manner”, and workers have stopped the protest outside the factory since Nov 20.

“Workers and the company might have reached an agreement to avoid possible unfair treatment in the future,” Xiao said.

Hundreds of workers had massed outside the factory, saying they were battling to change new contracts offering worse terms after a deal in September between the US software giant and the Finnish handset maker.

In a statement early on Wednesday, Nokia (China) said interaction between protesters and police had remained peaceful, adding that manufacturing operations in Dongguan will continue.