Strikes in China hit Toyota, Honda suppliers

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37865751/ns/world_news-asiapacific/


updated 6/23/2010 3:57:14 AM ET

GUANGZHOU, China — A strike at a Japanese car parts supplier in southern China forced Toyota Motor Corp to suspend production at a Chinese auto assembly plant, the latest in a string of labor-related disruptions at foreign-owned manufacturers across the country.

Work at the Toyota factory, which has an annual capacity of 360,000 units and makes models such as the Camry and Yaris, had been suspended since Tuesday morning, Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said.

The car parts supplier, Denso (Guangzhou Nansha) Co Ltd, is owned by Japan's Denso Corp, and is affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp.

Hopefully working conditions will be next.

they are paid...11 hours a day..7 days a week..no time off at all..and earn less than $1.00 per hour.
There has been a rash a suicides among the workers...and that is part of the reason that so much attention is being paid to the situation....finally.

Was very disappointed to find out that some of these laborers are the workforce that is putting together the parts for iPhones and iPads...
shame on you Steve Jobs.
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http://en.secretchina.com/opinion/3805.html

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The pushing force behind Apple’s comeback is none other than Terry Gou’s Hon Hai Group, the anchor for FoxCONN, the world’s largest manufacturer of electronics and computer components, plus tens of thousands of cheap laborers in China.



Over the past few weeks, the global media have widely reported on the twelve suicide jumps at FoxCONN’s Longhua Factory in China.



The first suicide jump was due to the loss of the prototype iPhone 4G. When the family of the dead engineer received some good compensation money (about $40,000), the following eleven jumps were all somehow related to the compensation money, according to the last notes left by the dead workers.

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http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/18/apples_iphone_touchscreen_supplier_faces_violent_employee_strike.html

More than 2,000 workers at a Wintek Corp. factory in Suzhou, China, have gone on strike and destroyed equipment at their factory, potentially straining the supply of parts for Apple's iPhone.

According to China Daily, factory workers last week damaged equipment and vehicles in response to a number of alleged deaths from overexposure to toxic chemicals. Employees said they did not accept the local government's investigation into the matter. Bloomberg reported that the factory is a component supplier for the iPhone.

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"What we feel angry about is the company authorities' apathy to our workers' health," said a worker named Zhu. He also added that employees have been overworked and underpaid.

Employees said there was a strong smell at the factory that they believe caused the deaths of four workers. One man, Li Liang, was found to have died of congenital heart disease -- a diagnosis his co-workers do not believe.

The employees believe the deaths are attributed to an overexposure to hexane, a toxic chemical used to clean touchscreen panels at the factory. Hexane can cause nervous system failure in humans.

Apple's overseas manufacturing partners have been the subject of much scrutiny over the years. Last July, an audit of Apple's partners in mainland China found that 45 of 83 factories that built iPhones and iPods in 2008 weren't paying valid overtime rates for those workers that qualified. In addition, 23 of those factories weren't even paying some of their workers China's minimum wage.

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