All Jacked Up? GM and Chrysler Can Use Taxpayer Money To Lobby For More Taxpayer Money

Hu looks what happaning in China/wal-mart and you tell me why the UAW is not important.

Huu says..... "China is where N.America was about 100 years ago in labour law" Right poor work conditions low wages etc etc, no one to step in and help the working man while CEO's make boatloads of money doing little to no work for it. Just ask Wally about this one. This is the reason why the UAW is in place.

Toyota Shuts China Plant as Workers at Honda Affiliate Return
By Liza Lin and Yuki Hagiwara - Jun 19, 2010
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Business ExchangeTwitterDeliciousDiggFacebookLinkedInNewsvinePropellerYahoo! BuzzPrint Workers leave the Honda Lock (Guangdong) Co. factory after finishing their shift in Zhongshan on Friday. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
Labor unrest in China spread to Toyota Motor Corp. last week, forcing the Japanese automaker to stop production even as strikers at a Honda Motor Co. supplier agreed to return to work with a promise of higher pay.

Walkouts spread through foreign-owned factories this month, with demands for higher pay underscoring China’s shrinking supply of low-cost labor. Strikes disrupted Honda’s production in the nation, forcing the Tokyo-based carmaker to raise wages at three suppliers and seeking to avert further work stoppages.

Workers at the Guangdong province plant of Honda affiliate Nihon Plast Co. agreed to return to work as talks continued on June 18, said Takayuki Fujii, a Beijing-based Honda spokesman. Staff at Honda Lock (Guangdong) Co., who agreed to pay increases according to Fujii, said they aren’t satisfied.

“We’re not happy but what more can we do?” said a 21- year-old woman who identified herself by the surname Hu. “I’m quite angry. We spent so much time on strike, and we don’t even get 300 yuan more.”

A worker surnamed Luo said monthly pay was increased by 200 yuan ($29.30) plus an 80-yuan allowance, compared with their request for 450 yuan more. Luo said employees would probably join if someone decided to start another strike because dissatisfaction is so high.

‘Copycat Strikes’

Toyota closed its Tianjin factory June 18 after a strike at supplier Toyoda Gosei Co. in the city, said Mieko Iwasaki, a spokeswoman for the carmaker. Niu Yu, a Toyota spokesman in China, said the Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co. plant that shut down is normally closed on Saturday and Sunday.

A Toyoda Gosei Co. plant in Tianjin has been partially shut since workers went on strike June 17, said Shingo Handa, a spokesman for the affiliate, based in Japan’s Aichi prefecture.

“When strikes are successful, you do see replica strikes, copycat strikes,” said Geoffrey Crothall, a spokesman for Hong Kong-based advocacy group China Labour Bulletin. “I expect you’ll see more strikes in the coming weeks.”

Nihon Plast, based in Shizuoka, Japan, is 21 percent owned by Honda, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company also supplies Japanese carmakers Nissan Motor Co. and Suzuki Motor Corp., according to its website. It makes air bags and handles for Honda and Nissan, according to Kyodo News, which reported the strike earlier.

Nihon Plast’s Zhongshan factory makes steering wheels for all models from Nissan’s Chinese venture, Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co. Established in 2003, it’s 85 percent owned by Nihon Plast and 15 percent by Osaka, Japan-based Itochu Corp., and has 502 employee