【英语中国】供应商工人罢工结束 丰田公司工厂复工

A strike at a Toyota Motor Corp.-affiliated parts supplier that had forced the Japanese auto maker to suspend production in this northeastern port city was resolved over the weekend, helped in part by swift government intervention.

Toyota's problems followed a wave of high-profile labor disputes in southern China in recent months, including ones that have hit auto makers Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co.

In the Guangdong city of Zhongshan, a new labor dispute erupted late last week, hitting Honda and Nissan, even as a separate labor dispute at Honda Lock (Guangdong) Co., a parts producer in the same region that supplies lock systems for Honda, was resolved late Friday.

In Tianjin, the agreement between striking workers and management at the Toyota-affiliated parts supplier ended a three-day walkout that had forced Toyota to suspend production on all three lines of its Tianjin plant-the biggest among several plants it operates in China. Hitoshi Yokoyama, a Toyota spokesman in Beijing, said the auto maker should be able to resume production of Corolla, Rav4 and other models Monday at the plant, which has capacity to produce more than 400,000 cars a year.

The relatively swift resolution came after a strong nudging by the government to persuade the striking workers to end the strife, which could be a sign of a heightened level of government concern about spreading labor unrest in China.

The factory's Japanese management-Toyoda Gosei Co. majority-owns the Tianjin plant, and in turn is 42%-owned by Toyota-also acted quickly, hammering out a deal that in addition to a previously agreed upon 20% wage increase, would pay workers about 200 yuan, or about $29, a month for perfect attendance, and grant approximately seven yuan a day in hardship pay to some workers subjected to high heat.

'We also agreed to try to narrow discrepancies in our pay scale and raise basic pay levels every year going forward for new workers,' said a senior manager at the plant.

Meanwhile, the Tianjin government also aggressively weighed in, quickly sending in high-ranking officials and police to the plant, which employs a total of 1,700 workers, to persuade the striking workers to return to work.

Workers said a large number of police showed up at the factory Thursday night, apparently to try to end the strike. Two workers said in interviews that police beat some striking workers and that several workers had to go to the hospital.

An officer with the Tianjin public-security department confirmed that policemen had been sent to Tianjin Toyoda Gosei Thursday to 'keep order.' He declined to say whether any workers were hit or detained.

In southern China, labor unrest showed no signs of letting up.

In a fresh dispute, workers at the parts supplier owned 85.1% by Nihon Plast Co., a Honda affiliate, walked off the job part of Thursday and all day Friday.

The workers agreed to go back to work Saturday, but Takayuki Fujii, a Honda spokesman in Beijing, said that worker representatives and management are still negotiating a pay raise and other demands made by the workers.

The plant in Zhongshan makes airbags and other parts for Honda as well as for Nissan, which has a major vehicle-production plant nearby.

Both companies said production at their car plants remain unaffected by the Nihon Plast dispute. The dispute at the plant was the fourth walkout Honda has had to cope with since last month.

The earlier strikes forced Honda to temporarily halt production of vehicles in China.

REUTERS本田制锁中山工厂的工人上周六复工。丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)关联部件供应商的工人罢工事件致使这家日本汽车制造商在中国北部港口城市的生产中断。本周末，在一定程度上由于政府的迅速干预，罢工事件得以解决。

在丰田公司遇到这一问题之前，中国南方近几个月发生的一系列劳工纠纷已引起广泛的关注，其中一些事件对汽车厂商本田汽车公司(Honda Motor Co.)和日产汽车公司(Nissan Motor Co.)造成了影响。

上周四，广东省中山市爆发了一起新的劳工纠纷，对本田公司和日产公司造成了影响，虽然为本田公司提供车锁系统的部件制造商──本田制锁（广东）有限公司（Honda Lock Manufacturing Co.）的另一起劳工纠纷已于周五晚得以解决。

在天津，罢工工人与丰田公司关联部件生产商的管理层达成协议，结束了已持续三天的罢工。此次罢工迫使丰田公司暂停了其天津工厂全部三条生产线的生产。丰田公司在中国运营多家工厂，天津工厂是其中最大的一家，年产能超过40万辆。丰田公司驻北京发言人横山仁(Hitoshi Yokoyama)说，周一，这家工厂将能够重新开始生产卡罗拉、Rav4和其它车型。

政府强有力地介入此事并说服工人停止罢工，从而相对迅速地解决了此次争端。这或许表明中国政府愈发担心工潮将不断蔓延。

工厂的日本管理层也快速作出反应，在之前同意加薪20%的基础上又推出了新的协议，将向员工提供每月约200元（约合29美元）的全勤奖，并为部分员工提供每天七元的高温补贴。丰田合成(Toyoda Gosei Co.)是这家天津工厂的大股东。丰田汽车公司持有丰田合成42%的股份。

工厂一位高级经理说，我们还同意努力缩小薪酬标准差异，以后每年提高新员工的基本工资标准。

与此同时，天津政府也大举介入，迅速派遣高级别官员和警察到这家共有1700名员工的工厂说服罢工的员工复工。

工厂员工说，周四晚，大批警察在工厂中出现，显然试图结束此次罢工。两名员工在接受采访时说，部分罢工员工遭警察殴打，数名员工不得不前往医院接受治疗。

天津市公安局的一名官员证实周四向天津丰田合成派遣了警员以“维持秩序”，但拒绝说是否有工人遭到殴打或拘留。

在中国南部，工潮未出现减弱迹象。

在最新的一起纠纷中，本田汽车公司关联部件供应商的工人于周四部分时间和周五全天举行了罢工。这一工厂由本田公司的子公司Nihon Plast Co.持股85.1%。

工人们同意于周六复工，但本田公司驻北京发言人藤井隆行(Takayuki Fujii)说工人代表和管理层仍在就工人们提出的加薪等要求进行协商。

这家位于中山市的工厂为本田公司和日产公司提供气囊等部件。日产公司在附近拥有一家大型汽车生产工厂。

两家公司均表示其汽车厂的生产尚未受到Nihon Plast公司工人罢工事件的影响。自上个月以来，这是本田公司不得不应对的第四起罢工事件。

之前的罢工事件曾迫使本田公司暂停了在华汽车生产。