Workers at a Toyota Motor Corp affiliate in China went on strike, adding to a series of assembly-line walkouts that underscore pressure for higher wages in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.
The Toyoda Gosei Co plant in the northern city of Tianjin has been partially shut since yesterday and talks with employees are ongoing, said Shingo Handa, a spokesman for the company, based in Japan’s Aichi prefecture.
Toyota’s car production in China hasn’t been affected, said Ririko Takeuchi, a Tokyo-based spokesman for the auto maker.
The stoppage comes as a Honda Motor Co unit seeks to prevent workers at a parts factory in the region from resuming a strike. The car maker said it hasn’t received word yet on whether an agreement was reached by a 3 pm deadline for wage negotiations, set by management and workers.
Honda raised pay 24 per cent to end an earlier dispute as two previous strikes in China disrupted output, fanning demands for higher pay at rivals.
“The Honda situation could be the start of a wave, as pent-up demand for wage increases surfaces and migrant workers, for example, become more assertive,” said Andrew Thompson, co-head of the automotive practice for KPMG in Shanghai. The pressure for higher pay will continue “as China’s economy continues to boom and people’s aspirations grow,” he said.