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.
联想(Lenovo) 1月宣布以23亿美元收购IBM低端服务器业务，结果将接收一座半空的中国工厂，因为根据工人方面的一位律师所言，有超过一半工人已决定接受离职补偿。
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开除了多达20名不满从IBM转入联想条款的工人后，超过一半的工人决定离开。上周，IBM公司深圳工厂的1000多名工人针对联想的收购交易举行了罢工。
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此前曾对x86服务器业务的工人表示，他们可以在联想接管工厂后以目前的薪酬条款继续工作，或者接受离职补偿。
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.
然而工人们要求提高薪酬和离职补偿，并组织起了自己的劳工行动，此前他们曾抱怨中华全国总工会(All China Federation of Trade Unions)不能保护自己的权益。
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.
但劳动法律师段毅在昨天表示，深圳工厂的工人们已跟他有过接触，多数人都接受了IBM的离职补偿。
“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.”
“一半以上工人已选择离开。”段毅说，“我原本计划帮助他们举行劳资谈判，但情况起了变化……被开除的人多数是工人代表。”
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.
此次罢工是中国工人又一次以行动反对涉及自己雇主的、金额达数十亿美元的并购交易。此前，固铂轮胎(Cooper Tire)员工采取行动抗议阿波罗轮胎公司(Apollo Tyres)的收购提议。这件事也证明了此类动荡局面会对大型跨国并购造成额外风险。
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员工能转入联想，但也会提供并非法律规定的离职补偿。该公司还证实“对一些个人的处分是基于他们拒绝工作的行为作出的”。
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岁的席邵东（音）已在IBM工作了7年时间，他说自己拿完离职补偿后就会回靠近西安的老家。“IBM真的太强大了，深圳的中华全国总工会又没用。”席邵东说，“我也不想再在这儿工作。工厂里新装了好多摄像头，以前从没装过。”
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.
根据席邵东的信息，同意转入联想的工人将收到3.6万元人民币（5870美元），其中2.1万元人民币在下个月支付，余下的在联想接管以后支付。
Lenovo has declined to comment on the Shenzhen strike, describing it as “an internal matter for IBM” until the deal closes.
联想拒绝对此次深圳工厂罢工作出评论，称此事为交易结束前“IBM的内部事务”。