Strike at Honda parts plant in China drags on

BEIJING: 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 Japanese automaker said on Tuesday.

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".

The work stoppage at a unit of Atsumitec Co, which supplies gear shift levers for Hondas made in China, began on July 12.

"The strike continues," a Honda spokeswoman in Tokyo said, adding that negotiations between management and workers were still under way.

The labour action has had little effect on Honda's China production, as the company is relying on inventories, she added.

An Atsumitec employee in the city of Foshan confirmed 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 per cent of the Shizuoka-based company, she said.

China's state Xinhua news agency reported early Tuesday that the strikers, who are seeking a raise of 500 yuan ($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, Japan's number two automaker, said last week its sales had fallen 2.7 per cent year-on-year in June after its China operations were crippled in recent weeks by work stoppages.

Takanobu Ito, president of Honda, 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."