It’s Ford time

Following in Ford s footsteps, Toyota and Nissan are building plants in the region, which has become known as Russia s Detroit and is booming along with the car business. In the latest foreign automotive investment in Russia, AvtoVaz , the country s largest car manufacturer and maker of the Lada sedan, agreed on Friday to sell a minority stake to Renault of France, the Interfax news agency reported.

AvtoVaz is owned by Rosoboronexport, Russia s state weapons exporting company, which will retain a majority stake. The strike at Ford highlights the tightening labor market in Russia, a problem that would have seemed inconceivable a few years ago, in the depth of the post-Soviet economic collapse. Plants are compelled to pay ever higher wages. After two raises at Ford, each about 15 to 20 percent, the union is now demanding an increase of about 40 percent in base pay.

A Ford spokeswoman in Russia, Ekaterina P. Kuliko, said the average wage at the Ford plant was 21,500 rubles a month, or about $880. They say they produce cars to European standards, so we want to be paid to European standards, Vladimir V. Lesik, 32, an organizer in the Inter-Region Union of Automotive Workers, an affiliate of the International Metal Federation union.

Throughout Russia, a shrinking population, limited worker mobility and rapid economic growth has dried up the pool of available labor. Toyota, which is further along than Nissan in building its plant, is hiring experienced assembly line workers from Ford, according to the union. Also, improbably in a country with few successful grass-roots organizations, the union founded at the Ford plant two years ago has taken root in other foreign car plants, driving up wages.