CHINA: Strike at Toyota parts supplier runs into a second day; no apparent progress made at Honda Lock factory over pay deal

Record ID: 1532460

  • Title: CHINA: Strike at Toyota parts supplier runs into a second day; no apparent progress made at Honda Lock factory over pay deal
  • Date: 19th June 2010
  • Summary: TIANJIN, CHINA (JUNE 18, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF TOYOTA GOSEI CAR PARTS FACTORY JAPANESE AND CHINESE NATIONAL FLAGS TWO WORKERS AT GATE CARS PARKED ON FACTORY GROUNDS CARS DRIVING OUTSIDE FACTORY POLICE CARS DRIVING AT FACTORY POLICE CARS PARKED INSIDE FACTORY POLICE STANDING INSIDE FACTORY BUILDING SECURITY GUARD STANDING AT ENTRANCE TO BUILDING POLICE CARS PARKED INSIDE FACTORY (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN WORKER SAYING: "The strike has been on for two days" JOURNALIST ASKING: "Who will negotiate with the managers if all the workers have gone back home?" "I have no idea. I have to go now."
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2010 12:20
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Industry,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3VO83GCZIYPG11UTWLCF6P4FO
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A parts supplier for Japan's Toyota Motor Corp, Toyoda Gosei said on Friday (June 18) it was dealing with its second strike this week, the latest in a rash of factory labour disputes spreading across China.
    The chance of more industrial action also loomed over a Honda supplier's plant in the southern manufacturing heartland of Guangdong, where workers said there had been no apparent progress despite a Friday deadline for management to present a new pay deal.
    Widening discontent among an estimated 130 million strong army of migrant workers, whose toil has powered China's growth, could undermine the government's legitimacy and erode the nation's competitiveness as a low-cost global factory hub.
    Wages only make up around 5 percent of overall manufacturing costs but other inputs like energy and water are also getting more expensive. Some firms are already moving production to cheaper neighbours such as Vietnam or Bangladesh.
    China's leaders, who are obsessed by stability but also say they can ensure a better life for those at the bottom end of an expanding rich-poor gap, have muted coverage of the unrest in state media, while expressing public support for workers.
    Parts supplier Toyoda Gosei said production had stopped since Thursday (June 17) afternoon at a plant in the northern port city of Tianjin, where it makes parts including instrument panels.
    Workers confirmed the strike was still on. Police vehicles could be seen parked inside the factory's grounds.
    "The strike has been on for two days. I have no idea. I have to go now," said a worker who didn't want to be identified.
    Grainy video obtained by Reuters, shot by a worker on his mobile phone inside the factory on Thursday evening, showed scuffles between police and workers, punctuated by screams of "The police are hitting people!".
    A separate stoppage halted work at another Toyoda Gosei plant on Tuesday (June 15), but that factory is now back at work.
    In Guangdong, workers at a factory which makes locks for Honda Motor downed tools last week but agreed on Tuesday to go back to work until Friday on the understanding management would present them with an improved deal on wages and benefits.
    Workers leaving the factory in the Pearl River Delta town of Zhongshan late in the afternoon said there still was no new deal.
    Most would not speak to reporters and appeared to shrug off the setback, saying they did not know what was going on.
    "There hasn't been any result yet. I don't know what will happen. I'm disappointed. If there's no result, our mood will be very different. And they told us the result will come out tomorrow," said two women workers.
    Both Toyota and Honda said the strikes were having no impact on car production.
    Honda has also been taking dozens of potential new hires to a training centre, possibly hedging against further unrest.
    The strike at Honda Lock, which manufactures locks, mirrors and wheel sensors, is the third to hit an auto parts supplier for the giant Japanese carmaker in recent weeks.
    Workers at Honda Lock said spreading word of successful strikes at other Honda auto parts suppliers had inspired them to agitate for improved compensation as living costs rise.
    In southwestern Chongqing city, a short strike at Chongqing Brewery Co Ltd ended on Friday after talks with management, said Danish brewer Carlsberg, a part owner of the plant, though a witness said it was continuing.
    Workers feared that a plan by Carlsberg to raise its stake in the firm to nearly 30 percent would threaten their benefits, a local official told Reuters by telephone.
    Some experts have noticed that the recent strikes staged by Chinese workers had mostly taken place in foreign-owned companies.
    "I think what is interesting is -- politically -- to labour, to workers, to strike against foreign capital probably be safer than against Chinese and... you know... purely Chinese company. I think that's probably true. I think that labour conditions, in terms of wages, in terms of production safety and work conditions, probably foreign companies are not that worse, not that much worse than the Chinese factories," said Lu Xiaobao, director of Columbia Global Centers in East Asia and professor of political science.
    China's Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, this week called for higher workers' incomes to protect stability, while Premier Wen Jiabao called for better treatment of workers.
    The sympathetic, if tightly limited, accounts of worker grievances in state media suggest Beijing wants to avoid outright confrontation with the workers and may welcome some concessions.
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