This round of big-factory layoffs hit new-graduate hires. They finally found a new way to protect their rights—by filing a complaint with the European Union.

Previously, StarVision Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer that produces car headlights specifically for BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen, made a promise during this campus recruitment: as long as new hires complete a one-month internship on the production line after joining, they can be transferred into a technical position.

As a result, hundreds of new graduates were, after completing one month of employment, mass summoned for interviews. They were told to either resign personally or go to the assembly line as operators, with their pay downgraded and their internship period extended to three months.

Because these new graduates had already signed employment contracts and completed one month, their status as “new graduates” was also lost. That meant they could no longer apply to other large-company campus recruitments using that status.

After repeatedly reporting to the local Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, this group of new graduates came up with a new approach: filing a complaint with the European Union. The underlying reason is that years earlier, Midea had also been reported by employees over overtime issues. After that, Midea feared penalties, lost access to the EU market, and ultimately resolved the overtime problem.

This group of new graduates plans to use the same path to address the issue of being terminated.

As it turns out, the company did publish an urgent statement saying it is willing to provide additional compensation to the new graduates whose contracts were解除解除—up to a maximum of six months’ salary.