Some 50 workers striking at a factory in eastern China were injured, five seriously, after clashing with security forces earlier this week.A strike halted production by carmaker Honda for the third day running on Wednesday.Recent clashes and walkouts throughout China have called attention to the poor working conditions in many factories.About 2,000 assembly line workers at the KOK Machinery factory in the city of Kunshan tried to take their protests onto the street on Monday and were prevented from exiting.

Photos of the skirmish showed police and special forces outside the gates of the facility preventing workers from leaving. The South China Morning Post reports that at least 30 people were arrested.

"The police beat us indiscriminately. they kicked and stomped on everybody, no matter whether they were male or female," one female worker told the paper.

KOK Machinery officials refused to comment on the strike, but said that the workers had gone back to their jobs.

Workers are seeking hardship pay for working in high temperatures, some of up to 50 degrees Celsius, according to Chinese chatroom postings. They are also seeking full workers' insurance, housing subsidies, and making work on saturdays voluntary.