It’s not just natural disasters that can halt production – over in Indonesia, Honda was one of the many Japanese companies forced to stop output last Friday when more than 10,000 workers demanding better wages blocked a major highway, the Nikkei reports.
Police say the workers took to the streets around industrial areas in Bekasi, some 30 km east of Jakarta, effectively closing a highway connecting Bekasi to the heart of the capital and Jakarta’s main port and international airport.
Virtually all companies located at Sumitomo Corporation’s East Jakarta Industrial Park were forced to idle plants when the strike hit. “Operations at 4,000 to 5,000 companies may have been affected,” a government spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Every year, local administrators in the country set minimum wages for each district and sector, and the West Java government decided this year on a 20-30% wage hike in Bekasi. The Indonesian employers association filed a complaint with an arbitration body, which on Thursday ruled for a review of the raise, sparking the massive protest, the report added.
Although management and labour are expected to keep negotiating, West Java is preparing to appeal to a higher body to revoke the ruling. A protracted dispute will have an impact on the supply chains of Japanese and other Asian manufacturers, many of which use Indonesia as an export hub. For example, the world’s number one manufacturer of optical pickups, Sanyo Electric, has its main factory for the key component, which is used in DVD players and the like, in Indonesia.
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Honda should invest more & build bigger factory in Malaysia.
Come to Malaysia laa… we need your investment here. We promise no strike & natural disaster over here : )
yes, sure no strike to demand higher pay because salary already high.
now regret right to build factory in indonesia and thailand?
But more $$$ under table + 30% free share for some “Bumi” connection?
30%? Is there any regulation like that in malaysia now? I tot already gone…i tot foreign company can own 100%
so they say…..but the truth is…..*silence before isa*
When you chase cheap labour – sooner or later you will end up having to face problems such as this!
similar situations happened in south korea, south america, china and even europe (france).
malaysians worker goes the easy way. not happy with salary, resigned. look for different company. wakakakakkaka
Exactly. The reason why those company opt for either Thailand or Indonesia is to take the opportunity of cheap labour. Malaysia already experiencing these phase in 1990s. Now we are moving forward to service industry.
Baru kenal Indon ker? Dah masak ngan perangai Indon. Klu kat Malaysia pun perangai cam haram, ini kan pulak tempat sendiri. Gaji nak ikut semasa, kerja curi tulang
Nggak ada gituan bapak abuya!! Kami dateng mau cari rejeki duit ama nafsu aja. Cewek malaysia seksinya waduh bikin copot ini jantung pak. Bener ramei gayak murahan aja.
Wak..itu bendera negeri jepun sudah bakar kaaa..
in your face honda. nak buruh murah sgt.
boleh pecaya ke kete yg di pasang kat indon nnt?
This situation is bad for them, but good for us! I can see more FDI coming in later, hehe..
I’m sure they would have carried out research in Thailand, then Indonesia, a presumably other countries in the region including our own before deciding to open up a plant.
It leads me to think that there must be something severely wrong with Malaysia that they would rather go through the flood and then this rather than setup shop here.
Sorrect, but after the recent massive flood in Thailand, many carmakers/assemblers are considering to relocate their plants to other countries, including ours.
malaysia not enough cheap worker n small market…if u think carefully why do think brunei not even mention for production hub……stable country, low tax… car there r not high as compare to the rest of asean if not mistaken la
seems like they will just move from a cheap place to even cheaper one until they’re no longer cheap. first china, then move to india (where they pay only half of china salary) and thailand (33% cheaper than china), now indonesia… i think they will go to Vietnam after this… vietnam even cheaper labour. Expatriate VN can welcome Honda there.
If Honda opened their factory here, this issue can been avoided. Malaysians will nego with management first untill last resort to strike only.
Lucky we are not like india. a little bit of issue, they all go on the street to strike.
dude.. salary of Honda workers in Thailand is only around RM700.. they need thousands of workers willing to work for that salary. if they open here, they will bring cheap labours from bangla, nepal or indon. we don’t want our country to be flooded with immigrants. 2 mil now, and many more are hiding illegally here.
correct me if i understood wrongly, but 20-30% hike is still not enough? phewww….
The Indonesian employers association filed a complaint with an arbitration body, which on Thursday ruled for a review of the raise, sparking the massive protest, the report added.
– they protest because the employers want the raise to be reviewed — reduce..
kesian, honda..
Alaa most of the time foreign companies are like that, ambil kesempatan bayar locals murah tapi their own expat gaji melambung. Sudahlah bonus pun liat nak bayar. Kurang asam, padan muka lu.
Hahaha, funny! Serves them right!
alah kat msia pon sama je, brapa ramai apek2 yg double standard dkt pekerja melayu…
cuma bezanya kt sini, xde org nk strike, melayu kena kencing ngn apek pon, rilex je lagi,..tu yg lg besar kepala tu…kekeke
Because malays are afraid to show their rights.
With Thailand recovering from the floods & Indon making noise on wages, question is what is our government doing? Are there plans to woo those ‘big-brothers’ to set up plant in M’sia? Don’t think so cos they’re busy preparing for GE13.
they r currently nego..for ev n hydrid car to built here…higher standard than common oil burner n even higher tech..malaysia at least 1 level up
Come to our country laaaaaaaaaa hahahaha………………
Malaysia cannot do strike maaa….regulation. Any strike…FRU will come and put everyone in ISA. Similar like those BERSIH thingy. Doesn’t matter what the purpose ie political, business, etc. They choosed Indonesia not only due to cheap labour but also due to bigger market overthere. Even if they get same labour cost in Malaysia, they will get double or triple the profit. Jakarta alone is accomodate about 10 millions (almost half of Malaysian population).
Luckily they dont shoot n kill like other police around the world…there is no ISA….and half malaysian pop is almost 15 milllion since bolehland has almost 30 million souls
Ciss you ni, where have you been all this while? ISA is now gone brother and anybody can do perhimpunan now. Even those who are clearly guilty can be innocent. Have you got your RM500 ah?
Poor ppl mentality like that lah. Don’t work hard but demand so much. If so good, just resign & change company. Protest will scare away investors & finzlly who lose in the end?
indon? eleh… typical barbarians.
itulah…pergi indo nak murah murah…kerja teruk situ nak wages tinggi lagi….sudah panggil lu awal awal mari malaysia buka kilang besar sikit
sudah pasti bendera jepun akan dibakar selepas malaysia.
heard that they are coming here? even export of sedan is being considered (fingers crossed). Hurrah for local HMSB vendor