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A strike of ‘unorganised’ workers in a Chinese car factory: the Nanhai Honda events of 2010

Author

Listed:
  • Dave Lyddon
  • Xuebing Cao
  • Quan Meng
  • Jun Lu

Abstract

This strike in a Chinese factory of the Japanese multinational Honda in 2010 received worldwide coverage. A young workforce sustained an on–off strike, with varying numbers of workers involved, for 19 days. Academic interest has focused on prospects for collective bargaining and union reform in China. This article, using interviews with former strikers, and newspaper sources, analyses the strike process. The workplace union, as a constituent of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and subject to the Chinese Party–state, was hostile; so the workers were in effect ‘unorganised’. Examples of non-union strikes in the interwar car industry of the USA and UK show the similarity of situation with the Honda workers. Hiller's classic text, The Strike, provides a surprisingly suitable framework for understanding strikes of unorganised workers. The strikers' vocabulary ‘framed’ their demands initially as injustice, but incorporated anti-Japanese sentiment and, then, dignity, in response to events.

Suggested Citation

  • Dave Lyddon & Xuebing Cao & Quan Meng & Jun Lu, 2015. "A strike of ‘unorganised’ workers in a Chinese car factory: the Nanhai Honda events of 2010," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 134-152, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:46:y:2015:i:2:p:134-152
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/irj.12089
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mingwei Liu & Chunyun Li, 2014. "Environment Pressures, Managerial Industrial Relations Ideologies and Unionization in Chinese Enterprises," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(1), pages 82-111, March.
    2. Manfred Elfstrom & Sarosh Kuruvilla, 2014. "The Changing Nature of Labor Unrest in China," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 453-480, April.
    3. Eli Friedman & Ching Kwan Lee, 2010. "Remaking the World of Chinese Labour: A 30‐Year Retrospective," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(3), pages 507-533, September.
    4. Elfstrom, Manfred & Kuruvilla, Sarosh, 2014. "The changing nature of labor unrest in China," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65141, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Stefan Dimitriadis, 2021. "Social capital and entrepreneur resilience: Entrepreneur performance during violent protests in Togo," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(11), pages 1993-2019, November.

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