Catherwood LibraryILR School

For the first time in two decades, South Korean Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Heavy Industries unions initiated a strike together against their respective employers. Hyundai Motor Company employees are fighting for better wages in the wake of industry reform while Hyundai Heavy Industries employees are striking in protest of their employers’ perceived insincerity during negotiations and to deter company restructuring that would cost thousands of jobs. The consistent hostility between South Korean automobile and shipbuilding employers and their workers has played a massive role in the decline of both of these industries, with South Korea experiencing a steady fall in automobile exports and constant conflict in the shipbuilding industry. While the strike led to substantial production losses for employers, the effectiveness of these efforts is doubtful as only one quarter of employees at HHI, for example, are unionized, meaning that the facility can operate while the strike takes place.