Honda Strike in Nanhai

• Date: May 17 2010 Time: 17:37
• Description:
  [Below are quick summaries. Additional sources are legion]. From China Labor News Translations: A lot has been already written in English about the basic details of the strike. In summary, the strike at the Honda transmission manufacturer in Nanhai began on 17 May 2010, and continued until 1 June – unusually long compared to recent strikes anywhere in China. Workers were striking for a large pay increase, better conditions for student interns who made up 1/3 of the workforce and, eventually, for democratic elections for union representatives at the factory. The strike ended in a definite win for the workers, who got a 24 percent pay rise and a promise of democratic union elections (more details in the translated articles). The workers’ success at Nanhai has inspired strikes at two more Honda factories, and both ended in substantial wage increases – one at a factory making exhaust pipes for Honda in Foshan, and the other at a factory making locks and mirrors in Zhongshan. Since then, strikes have also occurred at factories supplying other auto companies, including Toyota. The latest news is that on 14 July workers went on strike at another Honda supplier in Foshan city, Atsumitec Co, demanding a 60 percent wage increase from 900 RMB to 1,540 RMB a month according to Reuters. From China Labour Net: On the afternoon of May 31st the workers on strike were physically confronted by local township ACFTU members (Foshan City, Nanhai district, Shishan township), and the factory site was blocked by local police. In the morning the management took the dayshift workers to the canteen. Yamada, the general manager of Nanhai Honda, the township ACFTU, the township government and several teachers from vocational schools were at the meeting. Yamada guaranteed that they would not retaliate or dismiss any worker. After the meeting, workers returned to their workshop. There were people with local ACFTU tags and yellow hats at each workshop. At the Transmission Assembly Division, the division managers requested workers to resume work one by one but this was rejected. The workers refused to be video-recorded by the local ACFTU and demanded that they erase their records. Several workers were then beaten up by some people from the local ACFTU during the confrontation. When workers from other divisions learnt of the news they resumed the strike. But more workers were beaten up by the local ACFTU members near the factory gate. Two workers were knocked to the floor; their faces were bleeding. The batterers then returned to the ACFTU van. Police at the gate did not react to the whole confrontation. When the reporter tried to reach Nanhai Honda in the afternoon, they found that the police had blocked the road 1km away from the factory. A group of riot police and ordinary police were guarding the factory gate.