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Lenovo will inherit a half-empty Chinese factory as part of its $2.3bn acquisition of IBM’s low-cost server business – because more than half of the workers at the plant have decided to take severance payments, according to a labour lawyer.
聯想(Lenovo) 1月宣布以23億美元收購IBM低端服務器業務，結果將接收一座半空的中國工廠，因為根據工人方面的一位律師所言，有超過一半工人已決定接受離職補償。
Their decision to leave came after IBM fired as many as 20 workers who had objected to the terms of their transfer from the US tech group to the Chinese computer company. Last week, more than 1,000 workers from the IBM factory in Shenzhen went on strike over the deal, which was announced in January.
IBM開除了多達20名不滿從IBM轉入聯想條款的工人后，超過一半的工人決定離開。上周，IBM公司深圳工廠的1000多名工人針對聯想的收購交易舉行了罷工。
IBM had told the workers, who build the company’s x86 servers, that they could continue to work on their current terms after Lenovo took over the factory, or accept a severance package.
IBM此前曾對x86服務器業務的工人表示，他們可以在聯想接管工廠后以目前的薪酬條款繼續工作，或者接受離職補償。
However, the workers demanded to be paid more under both scenarios and organised their own industrial action, after they complained that the official All China Federation of Trade Unions had failed to protect their interests.
然而工人們要求提高薪酬和離職補償，并組織起了自己的勞工行動，此前他們曾抱怨中華全國總工會(All China Federation of Trade Unions)不能保護自己的權益。
But yesterday, Duan Yi, a Chinese labour lawyer, said he had been contacted by workers at the factory and most had accepted IBM’s offer to leave.
但勞動法律師段毅在昨天表示，深圳工廠的工人們已跟他有過接觸，多數人都接受了IBM的離職補償。
“More than half of the workers have decided to go,” Mr Duan said. “I had planned to help them with collective bargaining, but the situation has changed . . . Most of the people fired were worker representatives.”
“一半以上工人已選擇離開。”段毅說，“我原本計劃幫助他們舉行勞資談判，但情況起了變化……被開除的人多數是工人代表。”
Their strike action was the latest example of Chinese workers challenging multibillion-dollar deals involving their employers, following action by employees of Cooper Tire after a takeover proposal from by Apollo Tyres. It also demonstrated the additional risk such unrest can pose to large cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
此次罷工是中國工人又一次以行動反對涉及自己雇主的、金額達數十億美元的并購交易。此前，固鉑輪胎(Cooper Tire)員工采取行動抗議阿波羅輪胎公司(Apollo Tyres)的收購提議。這件事也證明了此類動蕩局面會對大型跨國并購造成額外風險。
IBM said it still expected a majority of employees to transfer to Lenovo, despite offering a severance package that it was not legally required to provide. It also confirmed that “disciplinary action has been taken against several individuals based on their conduct while refusing to work”.
IBM表示依然希望大部分員工能轉入聯想，但也會提供并非法律規定的離職補償。該公司還證實“對一些個人的處分是基于他們拒絕工作的行為作出的”。
Xi Shaodong, 25, who had been with IBM for seven years, said he would take the severance and return to his home near Xian in northern China. “IBM was really too strong and the Shenzhen ACFTU was useless,” Mr Xi said. “I don’t want to work here any more. So many security cameras have been installed in the factory. There weren’t any before.”
25歲的席邵東（音）已在IBM工作了7年時間，他說自己拿完離職補償后就會回靠近西安的老家。“IBM真的太強大了，深圳的中華全國總工會又沒用。”席邵東說，“我也不想再在這兒工作。工廠里新裝了好多攝像頭，以前從沒裝過。”
According to Mr Xi, workers who agreed to transfer to Lenovo will receive Rmb36,000 ($5,870), of which Rmb21,000 will be paid next month and the remainder after Lenovo takes over.
根據席邵東的信息，同意轉入聯想的工人將收到3.6萬元人民幣（5870美元），其中2.1萬元人民幣在下個月支付，余下的在聯想接管以后支付。
Lenovo has declined to comment on the Shenzhen strike, describing it as “an internal matter for IBM” until the deal closes.
聯想拒絕對此次深圳工廠罷工作出評論，稱此事為交易結束前“IBM的內部事務”。
