UPDATE 1-Venezuela says lockout at Sojitz car plant illegal

(Recasts, updates with company comment, background)

CARACAS Aug 26 (Reuters) - Venezuela's labor ministry declared on Wednesday a lockout of unionized workers at a plant that assembles Mitsubishi and Hyundai vehicles illegal, stepping up pressure on the embattled auto sector.

The ministry ruled that assembler Sojitz Corp (2768.T) had no right to unilaterally shut down its factory while the union's collective contract was in force and ordered the factory to resume operations.

Sojitz shut down its plant in eastern Venezuela indefinitely on Monday citing workers' "indiscipline and anarchy" that has sharply cut productivity at the factory.

The company said in a statement on Wednesday it was open to the government mediating in the dispute but said conditions at the assembly plant were not safe enough to resume production.

Venezuela's auto sector has been battered by a shortage of foreign exchange and labor problems that have at times turned violent this year.

General Motors Co [GM.UL] stopped production for at least three months starting in June, blaming tumbling sales and import restrictions.

In March, Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) said it might leave the country because of chronic labor problems. A union leader representing Toyota workers was shot dead weeks later.

The minister responsible for the auto sector warned on Monday that Sojitz was operating under a concession agreement and that it expected the Japanese company to meet its commitments.

Venezuela has previously nationalized companies that the government says failed to fulfill contractual obligations.

Labor strife has cut production at the plant to 33 vehicles a day this year from an average of 59 a day in 2004 despite a doubling of the workforce over the same period.

In January, two workers were shot and killed during clashes at the plant over labor negotiations, and protests have continued on and off ever since.

Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) and Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) vehicles are assembled at the Sojitz plant. (Reporting by Robert Campbell and Fabian Cambero; editing by Carol Bishopric)