Chinese autoworkers strike for higher wages at Honda, 2010
Summary
In 2010, amid a sweeping wave of Chinese labor unrest, workers at all four Honda car plants in China struck for higher wages and better working conditions; on 17 May 2010, all 1,900 workers at a transmission factory in Foshan walked off the job. [source: nv-database] Ten days later Honda halted production at all four plants due to a transmission shortage, reducing output by about 300 vehicles per day, and on 31 May 2010 Honda raised the minimum monthly salary at the Foshan site by 24 percent to $280. [source: nv-database] Follow-on strikes at a Zhongshan keys-and-locks plant (9-14 June) and a gear-shift-lever plant (12-22 July) won site-specific wage increases of 11 percent and undisclosed size, respectively. [source: nv-database]
Tactics used
Tactics used
Background
In 2009 China became the world’s fastest-growing automobile market, and Honda Motor Corporation, which first entered China in 1999, had four car plants in the country. [source: nv-database] Although the Chinese government had raised the minimum wage to $130 per month, Honda factory workers earned between $150 and $220 per month, while assembly-plant workers earned $300-370 per month. [source: nv-database] Workers also complained of unreasonable start times and poor air-conditioning in hot facilities. [source: nv-database] The 2010 labor unrest gave Honda workers an opening to seek pay equity across the supply chain. [source: nv-database]
What happened
On 17 May 2010, all 1,900 workers at the transmission factory in Foshan went on strike, demanding wages equal to those of Honda’s assembly-plant workers. [source: nv-database] Ten days into the strike Honda halted production at all four car plants due to the transmission shortage, reducing output by about 300 vehicles per day. [source: nv-database] On 31 May 2010, Honda announced a 24 percent minimum monthly salary increase at the Foshan site, to $280; the majority of workers welcomed the raise, but 40 remained on strike seeking additional increases, and an alleged physical confrontation occurred between some strikers and government-sent union officials. [source: nv-database] Production resumed on 2 June. [source: nv-database] On 9 June 2010, 100 workers at the Zhongshan keys-and-locks plant walked out; two days later about 500 workers marched, picketed, and blocked roads outside the factory before riot police dispersed the crowd. [source: nv-database] Some workers said they wanted a legitimate union because the only unions allowed by the communist government were government-formed. [source: nv-database] On 14 June 2010, the Zhongshan strike ended as replacement workers began their first days, though about 100 workers held a rally outside the site; Honda agreed to raise salaries at the site by 11 percent to $152 per month. [source: nv-database] A final strike at a gear-shift-lever factory began on 12 July 2010 and lasted until 22 July 2010, with overall production continuing at a regular rate; Honda again agreed to a wage increase, the details of which were not disclosed. [source: nv-database]
Key people & organizations
- Foshan transmission factory workers (1,900 strikers)
- Zhongshan keys-and-locks factory workers (100 strikers, 500 marchers)
- Gear-shift-lever factory workers
- Honda Motor Corporation (opponent, then concessor)
- Chinese government (intervened via government-formed union at Foshan)
- Riot police (dispersed 11 June 2010 Zhongshan marchers)
Outcome
Verdict: partial.
All three striking sites secured some wage increase, with magnitudes varying by site: a 24 percent raise to $280 at Foshan, an 11 percent raise to $152 at Zhongshan, and an undisclosed increase at the gear-shift-lever plant. [source: nv-database] Per the source’s scoring rubric, the campaign scored 4 out of 6 points on achieving specific demands/goals, 1 out of 1 on survival, and 3 out of 3 on growth (8 out of 10 total). [source: nv-database] However, the workers did not secure the wage parity with assembly-plant workers they had sought, and some at Foshan remained on strike seeking additional raises. [source: nv-database]
Lessons
- A supply-chain strike (one plant’s stoppage halting four others) is more powerful than parallel local actions, because the bottleneck creates a multiplicative economic cost.
- Wage-parity demands across job classifications (parts vs. assembly) win partial concessions but rarely full parity when the company can keep the parts-plant price lower than the assembly-plant one.
- Government-controlled unions can become an opponent within the workplace when they try to end a strike; workers’ demands for an independent union were politically out of reach but made the limit of the concession visible.
Sources
- Global Nonviolent Action Database —
[[nv-database]]
Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.
Sources & verification
nv-database— grounding: primary — license: link-only- Rewritten: 2026-07-04 via
t6_build.py