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Fresh Strike Hits Mainland China Honda Operations
Ah, the perils of being a rich communist nation: everyone wants a part of the spoils. South China Morning Post reports that Honda's mainland China operations have been hit by a fresh strike, this time at the Atsumitec Company in the city of Foshan. The operation began on Monday, with 170 workers striking after management fired about
100, a worker who declined to give his name told reporters by telephone. “The local government has sent police to our
factory and will be here in the afternoon,” he said. As SCMP reports, the strike follows a turbulent period in
June, which saw hundreds of workers at a number of foreign-owned
factories, many of those in the affluent Pearl River Delta, walk off the
job demanding better pay. More than anything, the recent bout of strikes, in addition to putting increasing pressure on China's social tenuous fabric, demonstrate how just-in-time
manufacturing, now highly popular among western manufacturers, can put
companies at risk because it allows little margin for error when supply
chains get disrupted. Should Chinese slave laborers, er, workers, continue aspiring to be able to work for even one fifth of US minimum wage, in their quest to replicate iPad mania so popular in the US, the problems may easily get out of hand. Furthermore, with labor costs rising dramatically, the impact on already tight export margins is going to be severe.
More from SCMP:
The strikes are a symptom of a broader trend that many investors will have to consider: a Chinese workforce becoming more assertive and selective, and sometimes inclined to protest by strikes, slow-downs and, most often, quitting.
“The chance of more strikes increases the more successful the previous strikes are. There’s been more and more communication between workers and advocacy groups,” said Duncan Innes-Kerr, Beijing-based China analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“The workers have networks to exchange information even when there has been a state media blackout. The example set in one place tends to encourage others.”The wave of current unrest hit a peak in June, but reports tapered off at the end of the month. The last reported stoppage, at Japanese-owned Tianjin Mitsumi Electric, ended on July 3.
Domestic media have been largely mute about the strikes, apparently due to state censorship. But Xinhua has issued reports about the unrest on its English-language service.
Labour costs in China have been rising, partly encouraged by a government that wants to turn farmers and workers into more confident consumers, even as it tries to keep a lid on strikes.
Earlier strikes disrupted production at carmakers Toyota and Honda, and have laid bare the rising demands of China’s 150 million migrant workers, especially younger ones wanting to secure a foothold in urban areas.
Of course, should manufacturers decide to pass through labor costs to end products, coupled with a CNY revaluation, WalMart may just end up being the best short opportunity ever.
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Workers of the world unite.
I guess the Chinese workers are acting in the true spirit of socialism, rather than the corrupted, modern equivalent.
So.. how well do Vietnamese build Hondas? We're about to find out...
at the start of the Tokyo game]
P.A. Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, will you stand please for the playing of our Corporate Hymn.
__
Bartholomew: Corporate society takes care of everything. And all it asks of anyone, all it's ever asked of anyone ever, is not to interfere with management decisions
In a country like China: Want the price of Honda's reduced...make a call to Honda of China......No play ball ...make a call to Honda Unions. Want to get rid of Honda of China....make a call to Honda Unions....put them out of business and take over their state of the art manufacturing facilities.
http://wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=2002633
Some housing developments being locked and patrolled at night in China...
Work stoppages around the world - India (gas prices), Europe, China, etc.
Interesting times...
Work stoppages in Europe are no surprise. That's a way of life there.
Work Starting in Asia was/is a surprise.
It was a way of life here!
The treadmill existence is a western, trojan gift!
;-)
ORI
http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com
Power to the little people ~ stick it to da Man
Chinese don't like working in shitty factory jobs anymore than Westerners; with a better economy and options of course they will demand more. The only people who are surprised are those with vague notions that' their culture is different and obedient to authority'.
Sorry capitalism, cheap labor will be harder to come by. The list of nations is narrowing rapidly. And after that, you've got nothing.
Pay the workers more! Then there is a good excuse to circulate more doelarrs, huh China?
The Chinese "proletariats" are beginning to realize that they are trapped in a system that subjects them to the absolute worst that both Communism and Capitalism have to offer.
If any, I wouldn't be surprised to find American fingerprints in these organised strikes.
If chinese imports get more expensive, and exports to china go up, America and Europe might get their inflation and a uptick in employment.
Don't forget that the CIA does have a history in doing these kind of things and are pretty good at it.
Until I see workers striking at Chinese manufactures I see this as an attempt to drive foreign companies out of the country while leaving behind state of the art manufacturing facilities for Chinese manufacturers. Pure speculation on my part.
Boxer rebellion 2.0!
They are all foreign and mostly American. Who else do you think built their manufacturing base in such a short period of time? And what would these hijacked/stolen companies be producing, or more appropriately, for whom??
This is impossible. Why else do you think the US government was so complicit with China's industrial rise? Because it helped their own corporations at the expense of US workers. The only benefit to the US was the deflation importation.
export the UAW? now thats' a thought.
Cant have stocks down and gold up. Wonder what time they close the weekly book on factors affecting reserve balances to be released later?
Obviously, the "People's Republic" dispatched the police to start the repression against the workers of a privately owned foreign company.
China is like fascist Italy, but without all the nationalism: the private companies are owned by foreigners.
In fact, it reminds me of Pinochet's Chile.
...most often, quitting
My Kinfolk: "These "lazy" people don't want to work. This is why the "country" is going to shit. These "deadbeats" don't want to be "members" of "society". [on and on the kinfolk talk gibberish and display their finanicial illiteracy]
Capitalism suggests that raising wages does not necessarily lead to raising prices, just diminishing profit margins. Monopolies on the other handthink otherwise. Also this bodes well for the few that think China intends on depreciating their Yuan and not visa-versa.
My bet is that profit margins are reduced to negative numbers just like electronics headed to the US were out of Japan in the 80's.
PS. KANBAN or Just in Time (JIS) has been operating globally since it's inception but i agree it is gaining popularity for obvious reasons.
OT: Damn it - should have bought some XLF puts this morning. Look at that last hour, zero-volume, news-free rocked shot. Could-a, should-a.
Tomorrow is another day in the "free" market, though.
Absolutely fknnnn amazing....after being down most of the day....S&P pumped almost a buck a minute since 3:30.....
Doesn't surprise me. It's earnings season; this is always when the massive insider-trading volatility hits a few hours/days before the rest of the world knows.
Looks like somebody had good earnings. I'm sure we'll find out who it was soon.
Goldman potentially settling tonight after bell (4:45 PM)
http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2010/07/market-jumps-on-sec-announcement...
“The workers have networks to exchange information even when there has been a state media blackout. The example set in one place tends to encourage others.”
"Twitter networks"
http://flowingdata.com/2008/03/12/17-ways-to-visualize-the-twitter-unive...
It's unfortunate that China's communication infrastructure is so vulnerable to jamming...
i'm convinced it's the cinese gov which is instigating the riots so they can get more cash out of international corps.
Wages will continue to rise in China while wages will continue to decline in North America. Capitalism is completely globalized. If our next door neighbor is willing to be paid half of what we want to be paid at the local factory, guess what? We're taking a pay cut.
Thanks to rampant money supply and its associated worsening inflation, slaves have started to ask inflation-adjusted wages. Of course, Chicom's got their brutal police force and jails waiting for those slaves.
Hear Hear! The keynesianism of higher worker wages will work its magic!!! Even Henry Ford knew his employees had to make enough to buy his cars. This trend is great news. Knowing the significant resistance faced by workers here (the US), particularly in times gone by, I hope the chinese workers make it through ok.
its not a strike, its just karma going global
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