Local workers, serving as source for many news' agencies, said more than 10 000 employees at one of the Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited plants, in the southern province of Guangdong, joined the strike. Some claim the number was higher; however it was impossible to have the number independently verified. Notwithstanding the numbers involved, the claims of the workers are widespread: they state the company has been making social insurance contributions that only considerer the basic salary and not the actual pay, as required by law. Failed payments referring to housing fund contributions are also on the list of complaints.

In an announcement issued in Hong Kong last Friday and signed by Chairman Lu Chin Chu, Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited declares that "Based on the information currently available to the Board, as at the date of this announcement, it is estimated that the loss caused directly by the interruption of Gaobu Factory operations is approximately 27 million USD, including additional costs for air freight, loss of profit due to production disruptions, and other fixed costs incurred"

On that same day, the Hong Kong based group confirmed that more than 80% of the Gaobu Factory' staff had returned to work - total number of employees in that unit is approximately 45 000. While Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited was announcing that things were getting back to normal at the factory hit by the strike, the news agency Reuters claimed that "sportswear firm Adidas AG was shifting some orders from a factory in south China that has been at the centre of one of the country's biggest labour strikes, underlining a rising challenge for firms doing business in China where an increasingly savvy workforce is pushing harder for its rights."

Yue Yuen  Industrial (Holdings) Limited also announced adjustments to the Employee Benefit and alerted those will have "a material adverse effect on the financial performance of the Group. Subsequently, the Company agreed to provide employees of the Gaobu Factory with an additional living allowance of 230 RMB per month (approximately 36.78 USD, applying the exchange rates published by the European Central Bank on the 28th April). It is estimated that the adjustment to the Employee Benefit Payments, together with the said monthly living allowance, will increase the Group’s employee benefit expenses for the year ending 31 December 2014 by approximately 31 million USD. In addition, the Group will also make post-payment contributions to the Employee Benefit Payments. The exact magnitude of which depends on various factors, including but not limited to, the large amount of employees and documentation involved and the particulars in relation to the contributions. Therefore, the contributions cannot be quantified for the time being." The group postponed public releases regarding the amount of the post-payment contributions.

With this acknowledgement by the company that certain payments were due another question is now being raised. Even if Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited makes the contributions, many workers might not want to top up their co-contributions, as many are migrant workers who might want to return to their homes at some point, and as the scheme is not a national one, they might not be able to take the benefits with them. This issues are far from being solved, especially as the population of the country ages, and other concerns arise. In fact, some of the companies with plants in China are already under pressure with the rising labor costs in the country, and any additional increases will impact them severely, making this a pressing issue for the labor-intensive manufacturing sectors.

Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited was founded in 1988 and it has been listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 1992. The group has two main businesses: footwear manufacturing and operation of a retail network. As a footwear manufacturer the group operates in the casual and athletic segment, as a supplier of world known brands such as Adidas, Nike, Reebok, New Balance, Puma, Timberland, Converse and Asics. Its factories are based in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, United States, Mexico, and other Asian areas. The company assures its retail business segment through its subsidiary Pou Sheng International Limited, which operates mainly in Greater China and whose main brands in the portfolio are Nike, Adidas, Converse and Puma.

The group recently announced turnover of 7.58 billion USD for the year ended 31st December 2013, up 4.1% compared to 7.28 billion USD in the pro forma 12 months ended 31st December 2012. Total net profit  attributable to the owners of the company amounted to  434.8 million USD in 2013, down 7.1% compared to 467.9 million USD in the same period last  year.