Car workers on strike in South Korea

Tens of thousands of workers at south Korea's leading automakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. went on strike last Friday demanding higher wages, abolishing the temporary workers system, and ending 12 hour shifts. The strike is part of a renewed push by workers in south Korea for better wages and conditions which have been eroded in the last few years because of the global financial crisis. The union leading this strike, the the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), has already organised another walkout for next Friday if negotiations with the two car companies do not yield good results.

 

Tens of thousands of workers at south Korea's leading automakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. went on strike last Friday demanding higher wages, abolishing the temporary workers system, and ending 12 hour shifts. The strike is part of a renewed push by workers in south Korea for better wages and conditions which have been eroded in the last few years because of the global financial crisis. The union leading this strike, the the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), has already organised another walkout for next Friday if negotiations with the two car companies do not yield good results.