Catherwood LibraryILR School

As China's inflation level continues to rise, more workers are striking across the country. After workers at Honda factories won pay raises from strikes, another Honda plant marched through a city, demanding higher wages and the right to elect their own union officials. Workers in at least three other plants have struck this week, and many inside the country say that there were many other strikes and stoppages, but most went unreported by the media. Many think that the strikes are due to the success of earlier strikes at Honda plants, and they also say that the workers are well organized at a factory level, and seem to have little fear of the consequences. The Chinese government has asked provinces to raise their minimum wages, and 14 have done so, some up to 20%. Analysts also say that the demand to their own union officials is a new step in labor struggles. Chinese workers are represented by a state-controlled union, and workers have no place to bring their grievances. Some economists predict that higher wages will cause companies to leave for places with lower wages, but others think that the plants may just move inland, where wages are still lower.