Some 1,500 Russian Ford Motor Co. workers Wednesday held a one-day strike for wage increases and a shorter night shift.

The workers at a plant in Vsevolozhsk, near St. Petersburg, vowed to stage a second strike beginning Nov. 20 and continuing until a satisfactory labor agreement is reached.

Workers want higher wages and a 6 1/2-hour night shift, instead of 7 1/2 hours.

The plant hoped to produce about 75,000 cars this year, mainly the international Focus model, up from about 60,000 cars last year.

The protest action is a "result of the refusal of the management to meet the demand of the labor collective and revise tariff rates by the grades," organizers told the Itar-Tass news service.

ZAO Ford Motor Co. asked the Leningrad Regional Court to declare the strike illegal on the grounds that management did not receive timely official notification, Itar-Tass said.// Copyright 2007 by United Press International


Publication date: 07 November 2007   

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