18 June 2010 / REUTERS, BEIJING
China must lift the incomes of workers to protect stability, the country’s top official paper said on Thursday, after the latest in a series of labor disputes briefly closed a supplier for Toyota Motor Corp.
The Toyoda Gosei plant, in the northern port city of Tianjin close to Beijing, was shut down on Tuesday by a strike but employees went back to work the next day after managers agreed to discuss wage increases, a company spokesman said. The firm, 43 percent owned by Toyota Motor and a supplier of items such as door components for compact cars, has not fallen behind its production schedule because it cancelled a holiday on Wednesday, the spokesman said. A Toyota Motor spokeswoman also said her company keeps some spare parts in inventory to allow it to cope with unexpected situations at its main auto plants in Tianjin. A rash of walkouts in recent weeks has paralyzed several factories across China. The unusual display of worker assertiveness is sensitive for the ruling Communist Party, which fears movements that could undermine its legitimacy or grip on power.
