By Nobuhiro Kubo and James Pomfret
TOKYO/FOSHAN, China, June 9 (Reuters) - A strike at a China parts supplier for Honda Motor entered its third day on Wednesday, hobbling production at two of the Japanese automaker's China plants in the latest of a growing series of labour disputes in the country.
Yutaka Giken, a supplier of exhaust systems to Honda's China joint ventures, said output at its own joint venture factory in the southern city of Foshan would be suspended due to the strike that started on Monday.
A Yutaka Giken spokesman said negotiations with workers were ongoing, while China's official Xinhua news agency reported that a team of 20 local officials, trade union leaders arrived at the factory on Monday to mediate.
The strike at the factory, a joint venture between Yutaka Giken and Taiwan's Taoyuan Fuwei, started on Monday, just days after Honda settled a strike at another supplier that had forced it to halt all output in the world's largest auto market.
The actions at Honda's China suppliers, both in the southern city of Foshan, come amid rising labour costs and growing worker agitation at employers around the Pearl River Delta, one of China's main manufacturing hubs.
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To view a Reuters Insider video on the China labour issue,
click on: http://r.reuters.com/vax67k
TAKE A LOOK on recent China labour disputes:
BreakingViews on Henry Ford lessons for China:
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PRESSURE BUILDS
A guard outside the gates of the exhaust factory and one worker leaving the plant confirmed that the strike was continuing for a third day.
'I feel the wages for an auto parts factory are on the low side,' said the young worker, surnamed Li, leaving the leafy compound that was largely quiet on Wednesday morning. 'The front line workers have very long working hours.'
'If they continuing striking, the effects will be great on Honda's entire operations,' he said, adding workers at the plant felt they deserved wage hikes similar to those that resulted in settlement of last week's strike at the plant supplying transmissions for Honda in China.
Honda, japan's No.2 automaker, had said on Tuesday that the strike at the exhaust factory would force it to suspend production at two plants that build the Accord, Odyssey, City and Fit, for at least Wednesday due to a shortage of supplies.
Despite the recent labour problems, Honda plans to lift production capacity in China to 830,000 units a year from the current 650,000 as it aims to catch up with rivals including Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co.
Honda sold about 580,000 cars in China last year, about 17 percent of its global sales.
Other international firms are also facing pressure from workers, many of whom come from China's poor hinterlands, to increase wages and improve conditions.
One of the region's top employers, Foxconn International Holdings, a unit of Taiwan contract electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry, has offered workers at its Shenzhen manufacturing hub big pay rises as it tries to deal with fallout from a spate of suicides there.
On Wednesday, Taiwan media also reported that 2,000 workers at a Taiwanese-owned machinery firm in the city of Kunshan near Shanghai had gone on strike on Tuesday seeking higher wages and better working conditions.
Shares of Honda were down 2.8 percent, underperforming a 1.6 percent fall in Japan's transportation equipment sub-index . Yutaka Giken was down 3.3 percent.
(Writing by Doug Young; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Lincoln Feast)
((nobuhiro.kubo@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-6441-1821; Reuters Messaging: nobuhiro.kubo.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: HONDA/CHINA (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
TOKYO/FOSHAN, China, June 9 (Reuters) - A strike at a China parts supplier for Honda Motor entered its third day on Wednesday, hobbling production at two of the Japanese automaker's China plants in the latest of a growing series of labour disputes in the country.
Yutaka Giken, a supplier of exhaust systems to Honda's China joint ventures, said output at its own joint venture factory in the southern city of Foshan would be suspended due to the strike that started on Monday.
A Yutaka Giken spokesman said negotiations with workers were ongoing, while China's official Xinhua news agency reported that a team of 20 local officials, trade union leaders arrived at the factory on Monday to mediate.
The strike at the factory, a joint venture between Yutaka Giken and Taiwan's Taoyuan Fuwei, started on Monday, just days after Honda settled a strike at another supplier that had forced it to halt all output in the world's largest auto market.
The actions at Honda's China suppliers, both in the southern city of Foshan, come amid rising labour costs and growing worker agitation at employers around the Pearl River Delta, one of China's main manufacturing hubs.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To view a Reuters Insider video on the China labour issue,
click on: http://r.reuters.com/vax67k
TAKE A LOOK on recent China labour disputes:
BreakingViews on Henry Ford lessons for China:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PRESSURE BUILDS
A guard outside the gates of the exhaust factory and one worker leaving the plant confirmed that the strike was continuing for a third day.
'I feel the wages for an auto parts factory are on the low side,' said the young worker, surnamed Li, leaving the leafy compound that was largely quiet on Wednesday morning. 'The front line workers have very long working hours.'
'If they continuing striking, the effects will be great on Honda's entire operations,' he said, adding workers at the plant felt they deserved wage hikes similar to those that resulted in settlement of last week's strike at the plant supplying transmissions for Honda in China.
Honda, japan's No.2 automaker, had said on Tuesday that the strike at the exhaust factory would force it to suspend production at two plants that build the Accord, Odyssey, City and Fit, for at least Wednesday due to a shortage of supplies.
Despite the recent labour problems, Honda plans to lift production capacity in China to 830,000 units a year from the current 650,000 as it aims to catch up with rivals including Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co.
Honda sold about 580,000 cars in China last year, about 17 percent of its global sales.
Other international firms are also facing pressure from workers, many of whom come from China's poor hinterlands, to increase wages and improve conditions.
One of the region's top employers, Foxconn International Holdings, a unit of Taiwan contract electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry, has offered workers at its Shenzhen manufacturing hub big pay rises as it tries to deal with fallout from a spate of suicides there.
On Wednesday, Taiwan media also reported that 2,000 workers at a Taiwanese-owned machinery firm in the city of Kunshan near Shanghai had gone on strike on Tuesday seeking higher wages and better working conditions.
Shares of Honda were down 2.8 percent, underperforming a 1.6 percent fall in Japan's transportation equipment sub-index . Yutaka Giken was down 3.3 percent.
(Writing by Doug Young; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Lincoln Feast)
((nobuhiro.kubo@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-6441-1821; Reuters Messaging: nobuhiro.kubo.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: HONDA/CHINA (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.