originally appeared in The Associated Press:
Japanese automaker Honda says it will cut about one in four jobs at its UK factory as it struggles with low demand in Europe.
Honda Motor Europe says poor sales across Europe due to the region's economic crisis are behind the loss of 800 positions among its 3,500 member workforce in Swindon. The plant makes the Civic, Jazz and CR-V models.
Honda has been making cars in Britain since 1992. About 165,000 cars were built in Swindon last year - though it has the capacity to build 250,000.
The decision comes despite some bright spots in the industry. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported this week that new car sales in the UK topped 2 million last year, the best since 2008.
Showing posts with label Honda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Honda. Show all posts
Friday, January 11, 2013
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Labor Disputes Spread in China
NY Times
Striking workers outside a Honda factory in Zhongshan, China on Thursday.
HONG KONG — Scattered strikes have started to ripple into Chinese provinces previously untouched by the recent labor unrest, while striking workers at a giant Honda auto parts factory here in southeastern China said they were ready for a possible showdown on Friday.
There were fresh reports on Thursday of strikes at foreign-owned factories in at least five other cities. But all of these strikes appeared to have ended quickly as managers, faced with an acute labor shortage, sought to address workers’ demands.
Chinese-owned companies tend not to disclose when strikes have occurred, and it is not clear how many strikes have taken place in recent days at these businesses.
The demands of striking workers have been overwhelmingly economic, mainly for sharp increases in pay. But while there has been no sign of any political demands, the work stoppages have potential political overtones as well.
Large groups of workers filled a lane next to a muddy canal in front of the Honda auto parts factory here on Thursday afternoon and criticized not just the company but also the local government for supporting the company. The workers said that large numbers of the police had been positioned in the factory on Wednesday and Thursday in an attempt to intimidate them, and added that their resolve to remain on strike had not changed.
Workers described an organizational structure that seemed unusually democratic for China. Each factory department’s workers gathered, discussed who would be their most persuasive representative and then selected that individual to represent them on a factorywide council that has held negotiations with management, they said.
Large groups of workers repeatedly gathered around a foreign reporter even though clean-cut men in crisp shirts, probably plainclothesmen, were hovering nearby. The workers, who insisted on anonymity because of lingering concerns about retaliation, said that a company manager had announced over loudspeakers late Thursday afternoon that all workers would be asked on Friday morning to sign a new contract and would be dismissed if they failed to do so.
Asked if they would sign, the workers replied with a chorus of “no”, and said that they would gather outside the factory gates on Friday morning to express their displeasure. After going on strike on Wednesday morning, the workers have marched around inside the factory shouting slogans through the day on Wednesday and Thursday, before going home to cramped apartments in nearby buildings each evening.
The Chinese government strongly discourages large outdoor protests, and it is unclear how the local authorities would respond to one at the factory on Friday morning.
The workers voiced skepticism that the company would meet their demands, mainly an 89 percent increase in their pay, currently 900 renminbi a month, or $132.
Workers said that they had read news reports on the Internet that Honda had already granted pay raises of 500 renminbi a month in settling other strikes. Honda has not confirmed the percentage, while indicating it was large.
A municipal official standing with a group of private security guards outside the factory said that there was no evidence that Honda had broken any employment laws. The workers “just want more money, they’re inspired by the other Honda strikes,” said the official, who insisted on anonymity.
A Honda spokesman declined to comment on the details of the strike in Zhongshan.
The Chinese authorities have allowed some media coverage in the past two weeks of labor unrest, while Li Keqiang, the deputy prime minister and the heir apparent to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, voiced support early this week for higher wages. The government even allowed national television coverage for two days of the strike at the Honda transmission factory two weeks ago, before abruptly barring further domestic media coverage.
But there have been signs lately of a more restrictive attitude. Workers here complained that when they posted comments on the strike here on the Web sites of Baidu, a big Chinese Internet company, the comments were quickly expunged.
The workers also described seeing at least two Chinese reporters politely escorted away by the police when they tried to cover the strike Wednesday.
The strike started Wednesday morning when a woman employee showed up with her identity card improperly attached to her shirt and was denied entry by a security guard. The women criticized the guard, who responded by shoving her to the ground, the workers said.
The workers provided a copy of what they said was a flier distributed by management Thursday morning. The flier offered an increase of 100 renminbi a month for workers’ food and housing allowances, which are currently 300 renminbi a month.
But the flier did not include any increase in base pay, and said that the woman involved in the altercation with the guard had been adequately compensated by the company with a payment of 10 renminbi.
Many workers said that a strike for higher wages was inevitable even if the woman had not been pushed, and that the incident was only the final spark for a walkout.
Brother Industries of Japan said that strikes had stopped work for the past week at two sewing machine factories in Xi’an in central China’s Shaanxi Province. Production resumed Thursday morning after what Zhao Wei, the president of the government-approved union at the factories, described as “concessions” by the company; he refused to be more specific and the company said that negotiations were continuing.
There were reports Thursday as well of strikes at several Taiwanese-owned factories. These included a sporting goods factory in Jiangxi Province in east-central China, a liquid crystal display components factory in Shanghai, a plastic factory at another city near Shanghai, and an audio components factory across the Pearl River from Zhongzhan in Shenzhen.
Honda has already reached settlements in the past two weeks at a transmission factory and an exhaust factory in Foshan, about two hours’ drive northwest of Zhongshan.
The latest strike to close a Honda supplier involves 1,700 workers who have stopped work at a sprawling, two-story factory next to a muddy canal lined by imported eucalyptus trees in Zhongshan. The factory makes rear and side mirrors, door locks and a wide range of other auto parts for Honda assembly plants all over the world, and the strike by its workers is beginning to raise larger issues for Honda, for the city of Zhongshan and for China.
The factory is 65 percent owned by Honda Lock, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda, and 35 percent owned by a local Chinese partner, said Takayuki Fujii, a Honda spokesman in Beijing.
There were fresh reports on Thursday of strikes at foreign-owned factories in at least five other cities. But all of these strikes appeared to have ended quickly as managers, faced with an acute labor shortage, sought to address workers’ demands.
Chinese-owned companies tend not to disclose when strikes have occurred, and it is not clear how many strikes have taken place in recent days at these businesses.
The demands of striking workers have been overwhelmingly economic, mainly for sharp increases in pay. But while there has been no sign of any political demands, the work stoppages have potential political overtones as well.
Large groups of workers filled a lane next to a muddy canal in front of the Honda auto parts factory here on Thursday afternoon and criticized not just the company but also the local government for supporting the company. The workers said that large numbers of the police had been positioned in the factory on Wednesday and Thursday in an attempt to intimidate them, and added that their resolve to remain on strike had not changed.
Workers described an organizational structure that seemed unusually democratic for China. Each factory department’s workers gathered, discussed who would be their most persuasive representative and then selected that individual to represent them on a factorywide council that has held negotiations with management, they said.
Large groups of workers repeatedly gathered around a foreign reporter even though clean-cut men in crisp shirts, probably plainclothesmen, were hovering nearby. The workers, who insisted on anonymity because of lingering concerns about retaliation, said that a company manager had announced over loudspeakers late Thursday afternoon that all workers would be asked on Friday morning to sign a new contract and would be dismissed if they failed to do so.
Asked if they would sign, the workers replied with a chorus of “no”, and said that they would gather outside the factory gates on Friday morning to express their displeasure. After going on strike on Wednesday morning, the workers have marched around inside the factory shouting slogans through the day on Wednesday and Thursday, before going home to cramped apartments in nearby buildings each evening.
The Chinese government strongly discourages large outdoor protests, and it is unclear how the local authorities would respond to one at the factory on Friday morning.
The workers voiced skepticism that the company would meet their demands, mainly an 89 percent increase in their pay, currently 900 renminbi a month, or $132.
Workers said that they had read news reports on the Internet that Honda had already granted pay raises of 500 renminbi a month in settling other strikes. Honda has not confirmed the percentage, while indicating it was large.
A municipal official standing with a group of private security guards outside the factory said that there was no evidence that Honda had broken any employment laws. The workers “just want more money, they’re inspired by the other Honda strikes,” said the official, who insisted on anonymity.
A Honda spokesman declined to comment on the details of the strike in Zhongshan.
The Chinese authorities have allowed some media coverage in the past two weeks of labor unrest, while Li Keqiang, the deputy prime minister and the heir apparent to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, voiced support early this week for higher wages. The government even allowed national television coverage for two days of the strike at the Honda transmission factory two weeks ago, before abruptly barring further domestic media coverage.
But there have been signs lately of a more restrictive attitude. Workers here complained that when they posted comments on the strike here on the Web sites of Baidu, a big Chinese Internet company, the comments were quickly expunged.
The workers also described seeing at least two Chinese reporters politely escorted away by the police when they tried to cover the strike Wednesday.
The strike started Wednesday morning when a woman employee showed up with her identity card improperly attached to her shirt and was denied entry by a security guard. The women criticized the guard, who responded by shoving her to the ground, the workers said.
The workers provided a copy of what they said was a flier distributed by management Thursday morning. The flier offered an increase of 100 renminbi a month for workers’ food and housing allowances, which are currently 300 renminbi a month.
But the flier did not include any increase in base pay, and said that the woman involved in the altercation with the guard had been adequately compensated by the company with a payment of 10 renminbi.
Many workers said that a strike for higher wages was inevitable even if the woman had not been pushed, and that the incident was only the final spark for a walkout.
Brother Industries of Japan said that strikes had stopped work for the past week at two sewing machine factories in Xi’an in central China’s Shaanxi Province. Production resumed Thursday morning after what Zhao Wei, the president of the government-approved union at the factories, described as “concessions” by the company; he refused to be more specific and the company said that negotiations were continuing.
There were reports Thursday as well of strikes at several Taiwanese-owned factories. These included a sporting goods factory in Jiangxi Province in east-central China, a liquid crystal display components factory in Shanghai, a plastic factory at another city near Shanghai, and an audio components factory across the Pearl River from Zhongzhan in Shenzhen.
Honda has already reached settlements in the past two weeks at a transmission factory and an exhaust factory in Foshan, about two hours’ drive northwest of Zhongshan.
The latest strike to close a Honda supplier involves 1,700 workers who have stopped work at a sprawling, two-story factory next to a muddy canal lined by imported eucalyptus trees in Zhongshan. The factory makes rear and side mirrors, door locks and a wide range of other auto parts for Honda assembly plants all over the world, and the strike by its workers is beginning to raise larger issues for Honda, for the city of Zhongshan and for China.
The factory is 65 percent owned by Honda Lock, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda, and 35 percent owned by a local Chinese partner, said Takayuki Fujii, a Honda spokesman in Beijing.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Chinese Workers Strike, Halt Honda Production
BBC News
Honda has had to halt production at its four Chinese car assembly factories, because of a strike over pay at one of its China-based parts plants.
The Japanese company said talks were continuing to try to resolve the dispute at the parts facility in the southern city of Fushan.
The strike at the plant, which makes gearboxes and engine parts, started last week.
Honda said it hoped to resume production as soon as possible.
The Japanese company said talks were continuing to try to resolve the dispute at the parts facility in the southern city of Fushan.
The strike at the plant, which makes gearboxes and engine parts, started last week.
Honda said it hoped to resume production as soon as possible.
Resolution efforts
According to newspaper reports, the 1,900 staff at the parts facility want their monthly wages to be increased from 1,500 yuan ($220; £151) to 2,500 yuan.
"We are still trying to resolve the labour dispute with the help of the local government at the Fushan plant," said Honda's China spokesman Zhu Linjie.
Like most of the world's leading carmakers, Honda has enjoyed a big rise in sales in China.
It sold 219,514 cars in China during the first four months of this year, up 39% on a year earlier.
Honda runs three of its four car assembly factories in China as joint ventures with Chinese carmakers to supply the domestic market.
It has two factories in association with Guangzhou Automobile and one with Dongfeng Motor Corporation.
Honda's fourth Chinese factory makes its Jazz small car model solely for export.
According to newspaper reports, the 1,900 staff at the parts facility want their monthly wages to be increased from 1,500 yuan ($220; £151) to 2,500 yuan.
"We are still trying to resolve the labour dispute with the help of the local government at the Fushan plant," said Honda's China spokesman Zhu Linjie.
Like most of the world's leading carmakers, Honda has enjoyed a big rise in sales in China.
It sold 219,514 cars in China during the first four months of this year, up 39% on a year earlier.
Honda runs three of its four car assembly factories in China as joint ventures with Chinese carmakers to supply the domestic market.
It has two factories in association with Guangzhou Automobile and one with Dongfeng Motor Corporation.
Honda's fourth Chinese factory makes its Jazz small car model solely for export.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Honda Slashes Outlook for Full-Year Sales, Profit
As posted by: Wall Street JournalTOKYO -- Honda Motor Co. slashed its earnings forecast and announced further cuts in its Japanese production and work force, as global demand for cars continues to falter and the soaring yen hits its overseas profit.
Honda Motor President Takeo Fukui spoke during a news conference in Tokyo Wednesday.
Honda, Japan's No. 2 car maker by volume, Wednesday cut its net profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2009 to 185 billion yen ($2.08 billion) from the 485 billion yen profit it expected in late October. In the year ended March 31, 2008, Honda's net profit totaled 600.04 billion yen.
This was the second downward revision in two months, highlighting the rapid deterioration in the auto industry.
The company reduced its operating profit outlook to 180 billion yen from its previous forecast of 550 billion yen. Given that the company posted an operating profit of 370.2 billion yen in the fiscal first half, the latest outlook suggests Honda expects an operating loss in the second half.
It cut its sales projection to 10.4 trillion yen from 11.6 trillion yen.
Also on Wednesday, rival Nissan Motor Co. said it will cut domestic production by an additional 78,000 vehicles and eliminate its 500-strong domestic temporary work force by the end of March 2009.
The announcements come just a few days before rival Toyota Motor Corp. releases details of its business plans for the next year. Standard & Poor's Rating Services Wednesday cut to negative from stable its outlook on Toyota's long-term corporate credit ratings.
Highlighting growing concerns of Japan's export-dependent corporations, Honda President Takeo Fukui said the soaring yen against major currencies was a major factor behind the company's latest earnings downgrade. In a news conference, he called on the Bank of Japan and the government to take steps to stabilize foreign-exchange markets.
Honda revised its exchange rate forecast for the fiscal second half to 95 yen from 100 yen. On Wednesday, the dollar fell to as low as 88.17 yen. Almost all major exporters have pegged full-year earnings expectations to a dollar-yen exchange rate of 100 yen.
While the pressure for consolidation has been mounting in the global auto industry, Mr. Fukui said Honda isn't involved in any alliance talks for now. Earlier this month, Fiat SpA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne predicted the global crisis will end with only six global auto makers still in business.
In Japan, Honda said it will postpone starting operations at a new plant north of Tokyo by more than a year from its initial plan for 2010. The car maker will reduce domestic production by 54,000 vehicles and cut its domestic temporary work force by 450 by early February.
Separately, Honda said it will set up a joint venture with Japanese battery maker GS Yuasa Corp. next year to make lithium-ion batteries for Honda's gasoline-electric hybrid cars. GS Yuasa will have a 51% stake in the company, with Honda taking the remaining 49%.
Honda shares fell 4.2% to 1,891 yen ($21.30) in Tokyo.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Honda Taps Sony to Ramp Up Its Ad Strategy
In an unprecedented move for Web advertising, Honda is buying all the online and mobile advertising space sold by Sony Pictures Television for a week starting Wednesday to promote the launch of its Honda Fit.While it's not uncommon for advertisers to buy all the available ad space tied to a particular TV show or single Web site to drown out the competition, Honda's half-million dollar deal with Sony takes that strategy a step further by extending across all Sony's mobile and online entertainment and third-party sites in the U.S.
Marketers have long been concerned about breaking through the crush of advertising on television. Now, with marketers following consumers online in droves, advertising clutter is becoming a major issue on the Web as well. The average Web surfer is exposed to thousands of online ads a month -- and remembers very few of them.
"The fact is, that like any part of the media landscape, it is harder and harder to break through," says Edmund Purcell, vice president and interactive management supervisor at RPA, American Honda's advertising agency. "We are not just throwing up a banner that could be passed over."
The Honda Fit campaign, aimed at metropolitan people who like small, fuel-efficient cars, includes ads on Sony Pictures' site Crackle, where viewers can share user-generated video. Ads will also appear on sites and music videos linked to Sony's music label Sony BMG, and on mobile networks Sony partners with, including wireless carriers Sprint and AT&T.
Ads will be tied to Sony-created digital programming across third-party sites as well, including social networking sites MySpace and Facebook; video sites YouTube and Hulu; and the virtual world Gaia Online.
Sony's digital programming includes minisodes, which are TV shows cut down to five-minute episodes for the Web and mobile; CSpots, which are original short-form videos that appear online and mobile; and Sony Pix, which are full-length films from the studio's library available via online and mobile.
Consumers often have a hard time remembering standard digital display ads, but a marketer can make more of an impact if they sponsor all the advertising space on a particular site, says Alan Gould, co-CEO at IAG Research, a Nielsen firm that tracks the performance of advertising. With online videos, if one marketer is the sole sponsor of the content, the impact of the ad can be stronger than TV, he adds. "It's more challenging to get your online display ads noticed in the first place, but once you do capture the site visitor's attention, the branding can be very powerful if you own the environment," says Mr. Gould.
Sony says it plans to pursue the Honda model with other advertisers in the future. "It's a perfect fit for what branded messaging on the Internet could be, or should be," says Amy Carney, president of ad sales at Sony Pictures Television, which sells all advertising connected to Sony's television, movie and music content across its own and third-party partner sites.
It's the not the first time Honda has tapped Sony: previous campaigns have included a contest on Crackle. Honda's latest deal with Sony is part of a broader Honda Fit promotion that includes TV ads, which started appearing at the end of September, an animated game, a Web site and a promotion with MTV Web sites set for early 2009.
By: Emily Steel
Wall Street Journal; October 8, 2008
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