BEIJING -- The Chinese government ordered Foxconn's Shenzhen EMS site to create a union for workers this year, according to the Beijing News today.

Shenzhen officials have reportedly told Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry, the local name of the Foxconn plant, to set up a union by the end of this year, the paper said.


  
Since 2004, the city's General Workers' Union has been urging the company to establish a union, the paper said. It is unclear what might happen if the company does not comply.

Much of the furor stems from a report earlier this year in the China Business News that claimed the site, which makes iPods for Apple Computer, was forcing hourly employees to work in excess of the legal allowable hours. In response, the company sued the story's writers for 30 million yuan ($3.77 million); after various groups appealed to Apple, Foxconn cut its claim to 1 yuan.