Autoworkers Strike in China

Honda's four auto assembly plants in China have ground to a halt after workers at a parts maker went on strike demanding better wages.

The strike come after Honda Motor Co.'s announcement earlier this week of an aggressive plan to boost production in China, raising annual production capacity at its Guangqi Honda Automobile Co. joint venture from 360,000 units to 480,000 vehicles by the latter half of 2011.
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The newspaper 21st Century Business Herald reported that the workers were pushing to have monthly wages increased from the current 1,500 yuan ($220) to up to 2,500 yuan ($370). A photo showed workers gathered outside the factory in spotless white uniforms and red caps.

Industrial wages are rapidly rising in China which in the short-term will boost domestic consumption. Longer term, it will impinge on the profitability of private capital unless new markets are continually tapped. And there are no China's left on the horizon.

The working class in China seems increasingly self-confident, as well they should be.

1'Strike stalls production at Honda's China plants; - AP