Walkouts at a parts factory have brought to standstill all of Honda’s four assembly lines in China, Nikkei reported. The strike started on May 17 and took place at the Honda plant in Foshan, Guangdong.
The workers, believed to make transmissions, asked for a wage increase from 1,500 yuan to 2,000-2,500 yuan a month, the average pay received by their fellow workers at assembly factories.
The strike forced Honda to suspend production at its two Guangzhou factories, run by GAC Honda, on May 24. Two days later, Dongfeng Honda’s two assembly lines, in Hubei, were also shut down.
Strikes have been comparatively rare in China, although labor disputes are widespread and a main cause of social unrest. Independent unions are prohibited. The state-controlled union defends more the interests of the local government, which is often in economic and political alliance with the factory owners, than those of ordinary workers.
It is unknown at this stage when production can be resumed.
