Hyundai's Gangnam Style Leads To Partial Strike
Due to a Gangnam-style real estate deal in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea, workers at Hyundai and Kia have gone on partial strike for the next few days.
Bloomberg reports the unions leading the strike will do so through September 26, while wage talks with the parent company are indefinitely postponed. In turn, shares in Hyundai fell 2 percent to close at ₩191,500 ($184 USD) on the Korea Exchange, the lowest since May 2013.
The trigger for the strike was ₩10.6 trillion ($10 billion) real estate deal for property in the Gangnam district of the South Korean capital between Hyundai, Kia and affiliate Hyundai Mobis. The unions claim this move as not only proof Hyundai can pay its workers better, including bonuses — which have been mandated by the country’s supreme court to be a part of a worker’s base pay — but that company chair Chung Mong Moo’s management style leaves a lot to be desired.
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Because chicks dig the Equus.
Korean government is going to charge extra tax for large companies with excess internal reserve. They are busy to convert the balance sheet from cash to non financial asset.
Korean unions are very aggressive. Good on them. Reminds me of a time when Fiat workers went on strike. The trigger for the strike was similar, but more funny. Fiat and unions were in a lock off about wages, Fiat alleging the usual and workers saying Fiat could pay. At the same time, Juventus, the Fiat owned football (soccer to you Americans) team, paid the largest ever amount for te best player at the time, French palyer Zinedine Zidane. Pointing to that, the unions started the strike. Yeah, from a business perspective one thing has nothing to do with the other, but from a public relations perspective, a nice coup from the union. In both Hyundai's and Fiat's case.
What is the plan for the use of the property? Build another factory?