Strike shuts down another Toyota supplier in China

Toyota Motor said yesterday production at an affiliated supplier in northern China had been halted by a strike and the company was assessing whether it would impact its car output in the country.

The walkout at a plant run by Tianjin Toyoda Gosei that makes interior and exterior plastic parts follows a strike earlier this week at a door parts plant run by Toyoda Gosei.

"We are aware of the strike at Tianjin Toyoda Gosei," Tokyo-based Toyota spokesman Mieko Iwasaki said.

Tianjin Toyoda Gosei is a joint venture of the car giant's affiliate Toyoda Gosei.

The spokesman said the company was evaluating whether the stoppage would have any impact on production at an assembly joint venture that is also located in the northern city of Tianjin. However, all three assembly lines at Toyota's Tianjin assembly plant had been affected, Dow Jones Newswires said yesterday, citing Beijing-based Toyota spokesman Hitoshi Yokoyama.

The strike on at Tianjin Toyoda Gosei began on Thursday when about 40 workers at the 1,700-employee factory demanded pay rises, a spokesman at Toyoda Gosei, based in Aichi prefecture in central Japan, said.

He said Toyoda Gosei is assessing the extent of the strike.

"We are continuing negotiations. We are doing our best so that this will not trouble our customers," he said.

Toyota's rival Honda has already been hit by strikes in recent weeks that have put a spotlight on complaints about low pay and long hours for millions of migrant workers.

Honda offered a 24 per cent pay rise to staff at its main parts factory to end a strike while employees at a plant making locks and key sets agreed to go back to work this week as negotiations on wages continues.