Chinese steelworkers clashed with police in a protest over plans to merge their mill with another company and beat the company's general manager to death, a human rights monitor said Saturday.
Several hundred people were injured in the clash Friday in the northeastern city of Tonghua, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said in a faxed statement.
Angry Tonghua employees attacked Jianlong general manager Chen Guojun during the protest and beat him to death, the center said. It said friends of Chen confirmed he was dead.
Workers were angry that Chen was paid some 3 million yuan (US$438,000) last year while some retirees received as little as 200 yuan (US$29) a month, the center said.
Beijing is trying to streamline China's sprawling steel industry, the world's largest, by orchestrating a series of mergers aimed at creating globally competitive producers. The mergers often are accompanied by layoffs that sometimes spark complaints that workers receive too little severance pay.

Dossier Tibet