Thousands of shoe-factory workers protest in Dongguan, Guangdong, demanding full social benefits and housing funds. The local government has intervened in ongoing negotiations, Guang Ming Online reported on Friday.

Factory workers were holding red banners with the words "Give my social benefits back, Give my housing funds back", reported CCTV news.

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Workers said companies should pay 11% of employees' general income to meet the requirement of the rate of social security, and employees themselves pay 8%. However, the shoe factory does not pay the 11% social security for them.

Thousands of workers of Dongguan Yuyuan Shoe Factory, the largest shoe factory in Dongguan, protested over unpaid social benefits and invalid labor contract on April 5^th, according to China news.

Dongguan Yuyuan Shoe Factory under Taiwan Pou Chen Group is located at Gaobu town in Dongguan. The factory is the biggest production base of many world famous sports shoe brands such as REEBOK and SALOMON. Their 60,000 workers work for over 30 sport shoe brands.

Yang, a No.1 Plant worker who initiated the protest, said some senior workers checked with the Social Security Office and found out that the factory bought social security for them with temporary workers' standard.

Li from No.1 Plant said he has worked at the factory for over 10 years and have a termless long-term deal with the factory but he discovered the contract he signed was legally not valid when he registered for school for his child.

Workers started to negotiate with the factory after the incident of "Temporary workers" and "non-valid labor contract", Zhou, a worker from No.1 Plant, said. They decided to protest after negotiating for a few times and receiving no clear answers.

Representative of No.1 Plant said they are not accepting interviews on the protest.