Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- More than 500 workers protested in southern China’s Guangdong province yesterday after their employer, a toy company, said it would fire them with an average compensation of one month’s wages, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The workers at Kaida Toy Corp. in Dongguan city said the company was trying to evade its responsibility to employees, some of whom had worked there for more than 10 years, according to state-run Xinhua. Company representatives weren’t able to be contacted, Xinhua said.

About 1,000 police and security guards attempted to break up the demonstration as protesters overturned a police car, smashed four police motorbikes and broke equipment in the company office building, the report said.

China last week said it will set up an emergency system to minimize labor disputes as its economic growth slows and factories cut jobs. Two-thirds of China’s small toy exporters shut down in the first nine months of this year, the nation’s customs bureau said on Nov. 24.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dune Lawrence in Beijing at dlawrence6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 26, 2008 02:37 EST