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The Hyundai Motor trade union on Friday decided to down tools yet again. Union officials plan to continue strikes until they get another 50 percent year-end bonus. Just a day earlier around 100 civic groups gathered in the city of Ulsan, where Hyundai¡¯s main plant is located, and urged the union to halt their strikes and go back to work. But the union has no ears for such calls.
This strike is illegal; it did not follow due process. But union officials don¡¯t seem to care. Only 350 senior members out of Hyundai¡¯s 42,000 unionized workers met and decided on the strike. Union officials said they had no intention of holding a union-wide vote. Their reasoning: the latest strike is an extension of last year¡¯s protest over wages, so there is no need to ask members for their opinion again.
But that is just an excuse, masking the union leadership¡¯s fear that grassroots members would reject the strike. Among ordinary members, there are reportedly many who feel the strike to force higher bonus is not completely justifiable. That sentiment is borne out by the fact that only about 1,000 union members came to Seoul on Wednesday to join a rally in front of Hyundai Motor headquarters.
Last year, unionized Hyundai workers downed tools 12 times, leading to W1.6 trillion (US$1=W942) in lost production. Sales last year dropped 0.2 percent from the year before, while operating profit fell 5.5 percent. Hyundai Motor¡¯s share price, which was W95,000 won at the start of 2006, has fallen to the W60,000 level, losing one-third of its value in just a year. There are 130,000 unsold cars collecting dust at Hyundai¡¯s plant in Alabama. A few days ago, securities company Mirae Asset warned Hyundai¡¯s stock price could fall to the W40,000 level and advised clients against buying shares of companies whose workers are part of Korea¡¯s metal workers¡¯ union.
The Hyundai Motor union collects W580 million in membership fees each month. That¡¯s W7 billion a year. By some estimates, the union has amassed nearly W10 billion in reserve funds. Inside the union, some 10 factions are vying for control of the leadership. The current union leadership was investigated in November by prosecutors over allegations of misconduct involving parts suppliers: that¡¯s allegedly why union leaders are seeking to divert attention elsewhere by launching strikes over the bonus. By doing so, they are jeopardizing the livelihoods of 50,000 workers and 600,000 subcontractors and their families, just to protect their own pork barrels. This is a truly bad union.
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