A strike by workers at a Honda parts supply factory in southern China has entered its second week, but car production has so far not been affected, the automaker said on Tuesday.
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The strike is the latest in a series of walkouts by factory workers – many of them at foreign-invested companies – over pay and poor conditions in the so-called “workshop of the world”, Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted.
The stoppage at an Atsumitec unit, which supplies gear shift levers for Hondas assembled in China, began on 12 July.
“The strike continues,” a Honda spokeswoman in Tokyo told AFP, adding that negotiations between management and workers were still under way.
The labour action has had little effect on China production as the company is relying on inventories, she added.
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By GlobalDataChinese industry commentators have suggested the recent spate of strikes in the auto and consumer electronics sectors may prompt companies to maintain higher stocks of finished products, adding to costs already being pushed higher by wage rises agreed to persuade workers back to the job.
An Atsumitec employee in Foshan city confirmed to AFP that about half of the factory’s 200 workers were still on strike over their demands for a salary increase.
Honda is the largest shareholder of Atsumitec, controlling 48% of the Shizuoka-based company, she told AFP.
China’s state Xinhua news agency reported earlier on Tuesday that the strikers, who are seeking a raise of CNY500 (US$73.70) per month, had blocked replacement workers hired by the company from entering the plant.
“We have police stationed near the plant to guard against any emergencies but, as to how to resolve the problem, it is still a tough question,” the agency quoted a local official, Zhong Weiwen, as saying.
Honda last week its sales had fallen 2.7% year on year in June after its China operations were crippled in recent weeks by work stoppages.
Also on Tuesday, Honda president and CEO, Takanobu Ito apologised Tuesday about the “commotion” created by the strikes.
“What we have discussed within Honda is that employees and the local management did not have enough communication,” he told reporters in Tokyo.
“There are lessons to be learnt from the China case – we need to have good communication… It is an area we need to work on (and) measures have been introduced at the management level.”
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