Parts manufacturing workers end strike

A few hundred workers at Guangdong Nanhai Honda Automobile Parts Manufacturing Co who were unsatisfied with the company's annual wage adjustment plan and went on strike on Monday night returned to work on Tuesday.

Workers with the company requested a 15-percent pay rise under a collective negotiation mechanism in early March, and both sides agreed to adjust workers' salaries.

But a trade union representing the workers said their salaries will only be increased by 10 percent, Yangcheng Evening News reported.

The workers pushed the trade union to negotiate with the company again, but the negotiation failed as both sides refused to compromise.

Unsatisfied with the settlement, a few hundred workers protested by going on strike on Monday night.

The workers felt that their pay was lower than salaries at other domestic automobile manufacturing companies by some 1,000 yuan ($160), an employee was quoted as saying.

Before March, a low-level worker at the company earned 2,200 yuan, after insurance deductions.

After more talks, the company finally agreed to give the workers a higher pay rise.

The new salary plan gives a 14.4 percent, or 310 yuan, raise to the lowest-level workers plus a 50 yuan housing allowance. Several workers cited by the report said that the new salary plan has met their expectations.

Workers also went on strike in 2010 at the same plant over disagreements on pay raises.