New strike affects parts supplier to Toyota and Honda

• Source: Global Times
• [08:29 June 23 2010]
• Comments

Japan-based Denso is the largest manufacturer of small assembly industrial robots. Worldwide, the company has 50,000 installations, including 15,000 in its own factories.

A strike has halted production at a Chinese factory owned by Japan's Denso Corp, a car parts maker affiliated with Toyota Motor, since Monday morning, in the latest in a string of work stop-pages at foreign operations across the country.

A strike at Denso (Guangzhou Nansha) has halted supply of its fuel injection equipment and other products to Toyota, Honda Motor and other carmaker clients since Monday, Denso spokeswoman Yoko Suga said Tuesday.

Management of the Denso-owned plant was negotiating with workers over demands for higher wages and better benefits, said Suga. The company has about 1,100 employees.

Workers on strike at Honda Lock plant in Zhongshan, Guangdong province

A spokesman for Honda China said car production at Honda's Chinese car making joint venture was continuing as usual.

A GAC Toyota Motors spokesman was not available for comment. GAC Toyota is the Japa-nese carmaker's Guangzhou joint venture.

The stoppage at the plant, located in China's booming Guangdong Province, is the most recent in a series of labor disputes. In recent weeks, strikes have broken out at a supplier of locks to Honda, a Toyota Gosei plant which makes parts for Toyota, and Chongqing Brewery, among others. All have since been resolved.

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions Monday warned in a report that worker demands were a test for stability, as China's young rural migrant workers expect improved incomes and rights while they struggle for a foothold in urban society.

"The accumulation of these demands and problems has begun to have a negative effect on our country's political and social stability and sustainable economic development," the report said.

Reuters