A strike of ‘unorganised’ workers in a <scp>C</scp>hinese car factory: the <scp>N</scp>anhai <scp>H</scp>onda events of 2010

Abstract

Abstract This strike in a C hinese factory of the J apanese multinational H onda 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 C hina. This article, using interviews with former strikers, and newspaper sources, analyses the strike process. The workplace union, as a constituent of the A ll‐ C hina F ederation of T rade U nions and subject to the C hinese P arty–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 H onda workers. H iller's classic text, The S trike , provides a surprisingly suitable framework for understanding strikes of unorganised workers. The strikers' vocabulary ‘framed’ their demands initially as injustice, but incorporated anti‐ J apanese sentiment and, then, dignity, in response to events.