An employee sits in the restaurant with a white banner reading "Hard Rock Singapore repay" hanging on the window. Over 90 employees were allegedly dismissed. Photo: Li Hao/GT



Employees of the Hard Rock Café (HRC)  in Beijing went to the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau in Chaoyang district Wednesday, seeking government support for their employment dispute with the Singapore-based restaurant chain.

Dozens of thugs allegedly burst into the restaurant and snatched financial documents last month, several days before the staff were suddenly informed by e-mail that they were being laid off.

"The bureau asked us to the labor dispute arbitration committee in Chaoyang district tomorrow," Liu Xiaoqing, a staff member of the restaurant, told the Global Times Wednesday.

On September 25, 50 people in black suits wielding axes and iron bars rushed into the two-story building in Chaoyang district, Ma Yong, an employee of the café, told the Global Times.

"The mob mainly took away the financial documents as well as the hardware of the computer which controls the monitoring equipment," said Ma, who said he witnessed the incident.

The Global Times reporter found Wednesday morning broken glass still lying on the ground near the bar counter. Two banners put up by local employees after the incident stating "Hard Rock Singapore repay" spanned the first floor.

Ma said that he received a call from the security guard of the restaurant at about 7 am on September 25.

"When I arrived, the restaurant was totally in a mess," he said. "I called the police but before their arrival, three cars full of stuff from the restaurant had been carted away."

According to the restaurant's official Sina Weibo on September 26, Duncan Finday Craig, vice president of Hard Rock Cafe Singapore, participated in the incident.

Ma said that Hong Maokai, the Singaporean general manager of the restaurant in Beijing, has not appeared since September 24 and his cell phone has been turned off.

The employees did not know the restaurant would be closed down until several of them received an e-mail letter signed "HRC Holdings" on September 28, said Ma.

"The letter claimed the restaurant will be closed down due to its poor business situation and we will get compensation according to Chinese law," he said. "But we have not gotten any further response from Singapore."

The restaurant had more than 90 employees, among whom at least 30 have worked there for more than 10 years, Cui Hongwei, a lawyer from Concord & Partners, who represents the employees, told the Global Times.

Cui said she has contacted HRC Singapore, and is still waiting for a call from the lawyer that HRC Singapore claimed to have commissioned in Beijing.

HRC Singapore did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.