Hundreds of Shenzhen dockers, demanding overtime pay at the Chiwan Container Terminal (CCT), staged a sit-in strike on May 1, stopping the massive throughput at one of the world's busiest port facilities, reported The Associated Press.

CCT, which handed five million TEU last year, is a joint venture of Chiwan Wharf Holdings Limited, Hong Kong's Kerry Holdings Limited and Hidoney Development Limited.

Some 400 crane operators and truck drivers at CCT stopped working at midnight Tuesday, Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po daily reported. A man who answered the phone at the port's offices said services had partially resumed but he refused to give more details, said AP, adding that calls to the company's headquarters and the local government went unanswered because of the week-long Golden Week holiday in mainland China.

The dockers were said to be unhappy about wages and have accused management of failing to pay them overtime. Dockers earn US$518 a month, which is considered high against average urban wage of $125, AP said.