【英语中国】本田罢工事件在中国并不新鲜

Did the southern China auto-parts factory strike that paralyzed Honda Motor Co.'s car production in China mark a turning point in China's labor movement?

According to one expert: Not really.

Large, well-organized strikes like the one that recently occurred at Honda Auto Parts Manufacturing Co., the engine gear factory near Guangzhou that supplies some 80% of the transmissions Honda uses to assemble cars in China, have been happening in China since the 1990s.

What has transpired since mid-May at Honda's parts factory is 'nothing radically new' on the country's labor front, said Mary Gallagher, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who is an authority on labor issues in China.

'Real changes will come when we see change in how the workers are represented,' Gallagher said. Factories like the Honda transmission plant in southern China have government-sanctioned labor unions, or 'gong hui,' but these are usually friendly and sympathetic with management.

'We are not going to recognize change until the Chinese government tolerates a more autonomous worker organization,' and allows it to be active on a more long-term basis, Gallagher said.

The leaders of the strikers at the Honda parts factory were allowed by local government agencies and other authorities to stage a fairly aggressive strike for higher wages, which they did receive from Honda management.

But their movement appears to have been put down quickly: Some of the strike organizers, including Tan Guocheng, a 24-year-old worker from Hunan, were fired for causing the unrest at the factory, according to Tan, who spoke on the phone with The Wall Street Journal.

A Honda spokesman confirms that Tan and another strike leader were fired on May 22 but says the reasons were unrelated to the strike. The spokesman, Takayuki Fujii in Beijing, said the two Chinese strike leaders were let go for violating the plant's in-house work and contract rules. Fujii declined to elaborate and would not comment on reports that a score of other workers at the parts plant have been fired.

Workers who go on strike asking for higher wages and stipends generally receive some sympathy from the government and the media, said Gallagher, the University of Michigan professor. But 'typically both the company and the government would deal harshly with the leaders to put down any sort of movement toward autonomous labor activities, and things would go on as before,' she said.

That assessment appears to have been borne out of the events at the Honda parts factory in recent weeks as well.

中国南方汽车配件厂的工人罢工使本田汽车(Honda Motor Co.)在华汽车生产陷入瘫痪，该事件是否标志着中国的劳工运动出现了转折点？

一位专家认为，并非如此。

Reuters近日发生的本田罢工事件改变了中国的劳工政策吗？像近期广东佛山本田汽车零部件制造有限公司(Honda Auto Parts Manufacturing Co)发生的这种组织有序、规模巨大的罢工，在中国从上世纪90年代以来不断发生。本田在华组装汽车所需的80%的传动装置配件都由佛山这家发动机配件生产厂供应。

密歇根大学(University of Michigan)政治学教授、中国劳工问题领域的权威人士盖勒(Mary Gallagher)说，本田汽配厂自5月中旬以来发生的罢工事件在中国的劳工领域并非完全新奇。

盖勒说，要看到工人们的表现发生变化时，真正的改变就会来了。中国南方像本田传动装置生产厂这样的工厂内有政府批准成立的工会组织，但工会通常与管理方关系友善，并同情管理方。

盖勒说，直到中国政府容忍一种更自主的工人组织存在，并允许其更为长期地开展活动，我们方才能确实看到这种改变。

本田汽配厂罢工事件的组织者经当地政府机构及其它当局权威机构许可，为争取加薪进行了一场较为进取的罢工，结果是，他们的确获得了加薪。

但他们的举动看来迅速被压下去了。24岁的湖南工人谭国成（音）在接受《华尔街日报》采访时说，几个罢工组织者，包括他自己，因引发工厂骚动而被开除了。

本田一位发言人证实，谭国成及另一位罢工组织者于5月22日被开除，但开除的原因与罢工无关。本田公司驻北京发言人藤井隆行(Takayuki Fujii)说，工厂让两位中国罢工组织者离职是因其违反了工厂内部的工作及合同规则。藤井隆行拒绝做详细说明，对汽配厂其他几个工人被开除的报道，他不愿置评。

盖勒说，举行罢工要求提高工资及补贴的工人，普遍获得政府及媒体的同情。但通常，公司及政府对罢工组织者的处理很冷酷，以压制任何有自主性劳工活动倾向的举动。盖勒说，事态发展将像以往一样。

本田汽配车近几周来的事件看似也证实了这种评价。