Four Honda car plants set to resume work after strike

HONG KONG - Honda Motor Co said it will resume car production at four plants in China on Friday, but the outlook for next week remains uncertain as some workers at a parts factory have not yet agreed to a full return to work, media reported.

Japan's No 2 automaker suspended vehicle production in the world's biggest car market last week after employees at a 1,900-strong, wholly owned parts factory in Foshan, Guangdong province, refused to work until their demands for more pay and other conditions were met.

The parts factory reportedly resumed full production on Wednesday but part of the workforce agreed to return only until Friday, when they expect the company to respond to a list of unmet demands.

"This issue is not solved yet. Whether it will spark more strikes, we cannot guarantee," a Honda spokeswoman, who only gave her surname as He, said on Thursday.

Employees of the factory in Foshan, near Hong Kong, reportedly agreed to a pay rise of 366 yuan ($53.60) a month for each full-time worker, which would increase the monthly pay for a new employee to 1,910 yuan.

A number of employees were still demanding an 800 yuan raise, though all agreed to go back to work, He said.

"For sure, we will go on strike again if we don't get a satisfying answer," said parts factory worker Li, who only offered his surname.

Honda said two factories run by Guangqi Honda, a joint venture with the Guangzhou Auto Group, as well as an exports-only factory that is majority owned by Honda, would restart on Friday morning. A separate factory run by Dongfeng Honda would resume output on Friday afternoon.

Production will also take place on Saturday but Honda said it had not yet decided if production would continue from Monday onwards. Sunday is a holiday.

The strike came at an awkward time for Honda, which announced plans last month to expand production capacity in China by nearly one-third by 2012, to meet surging demand in the world's biggest auto market.

Strong sales in China helped Honda jump from a loss to a 72 billion yen ($774 million) profit for the January-March quarter.

Companies in China are finding it harder to attract and keep workers, who are demanding better pay and working conditions.

On Wednesday, Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group announced it was raising pay by 30 percent for factory employees in China, after a spate of suicides that activists blamed on stressful conditions and overwork. Foxconn makes iPhones and other products under contract.

A Foxconn official said the company hopes the pay raises lead to a "happier work environment".
(Source:www.chinadaily.com.cn)