Catherwood LibraryILR School

Nearly 50,000 workers employed by Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), unionized under the two largest Korean trade unions, have announced plans to vote on a general strike following an impasse in negotiations with their respective employers over wages and work conditions. Should the two massive unions approve the strike, which seems highly likely, this would be the largest strike of its kind in South Korea in over two decades. While local businesspeople warn union members against staging a walkout in the wake of the restructuring of the shipbuilding industry given the dramatically detrimental effects this could have on the economy, both the HHI and Hyundai Motor workers are steadfast in their demands for higher wages and the reinstatement of workers fired during the course of meeting with company officials.