Toyota halts production at India factories

PanARMENIAN.Net - Toyota, the world's largest car maker, has halted production at its two factories in India amid a labor dispute regarding wages, according to BBC News.

In a statement, Toyota said it was left "with no other option but to declare a lockout of the premises to ensure the safety of its workers and management personnel".

Located outside Bangalore, the two factories produce around 700 cars a day. The lockout will affect 6,400 workers.

Toyota said that over the past 25 days, "certain sections of the employees have resorted to deliberate stoppages of the production line, abuse and threatening of supervisors thereby continuously disrupting business".

Negotiations over a wage increase have been taking place for the past 10 months.

Toyota's sales in India represented about 1.6% of the carmaker's total sales volume last year.

The stoppage in India came just a week after Toyota announced its biggest pay rise in 21 years for its Japanese staff.

The average Toyota employee will earn 2,700 yen ($26) more each month, a 0.8% increase from the year before.

Some workers will also receive about 7,300 yen more each month depending on promotions.

The increases were announced in conjunction with other large Japanese firms such as Panasonic and Nissan as part of a co-ordinated effort by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost wages ahead of a planned tax increase, which is set to come into effect in April.