Strike alert at Hyundai car factory

Employees of the Hyundai car factory in Nošovice in the Moravian-Silesian region of the Czech Republic are dissatisfied with working conditions, unpaid overtime work and the management approach. Thus, on 2 December 2009, employees spontaneously ceased production for one hour and on 7 December the trade union at the company announced a strike alert. The Hyundai employees have been joined in their protest by employees of subcontracting companies, such as Dymos.

Situation at the company

The Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech in Nošovice in the Moravian-Silesian region in the east of the Czech Republic employs 2,000 employees, 95% of whom are from the region, which has one of the highest long-term unemployment rates in the Czech Republic. Employees are thus concerned about their jobs, which are scarce in the region.

According to the local trade union representative, Zdeněk Ševčík, ‘Behind the Hyundai gate in Nošovice, there is another world. Neither the Labour Code, nor collective agreements are valid here.’ The employees are collectively complaining about being required to work overtime, which – in their opinion – is unjustified, and about hostile working conditions and bullying. Employees are not allowed to use personal phones during working hours and they are often informed about overtime work not earlier than during their shift, which poses difficulties for their personal life.

According to the company, employees work no more than 16 overtime hours a month; however, employees contradict this by stating that they work up to 25 hours of overtime a month. Nevertheless, despite an increase in overtime work, employees report that production is running on only 50% of the total capacity of the production lines. Dissatisfaction with the situation concerns not only workers at Hyundai. According to the Chair of the Czech Metalworkers’ Federation KOVO (Odborový svaz KOVO, OS KOVO), Josef Středula, employees in subcontracting companies of the car manufacturer are also affected, such as those employed by Dymos Czech Republic, a Korean-owned company located in Nošovice which manufactures car seats for Hyundai. At Dymos, about one hundred people allegedly went on an hourly wildcat strike on 3 December 2009.

Employees resort to strike action

Hyundai employees’ discontentment culminated in a one-hour production stoppage on 2 December 2009. Although this action was not organised by trade unions, they supported it fully and asked the company management not to punish employees because of the wildcat strike. According to employees, Hyundai’s Korean management was taken by surprise by this strike action. Employees did not want to abandon their claims concerning overtime work and other working conditions issues and thus called for strike action on 7 December, unless their demands were met. They demanded a reduction of overtime work, a bonus of CZK 5,000 (about €193 as at 20 January 2010) for the overtime work already performed in 2009 and impunity for about 300 employees who were involved in the wildcat strike on 2 December.

Reactions from management

According to the spokesperson for Hyundai, Petr Vaněk, the management of the Nošovice car manufacturing plant must first analyse which of the demands of the employees and trade unions could be met. The company highlighted that it must meet requirements on car supplies; therefore, the management has to find a solution that is acceptable to all parties. According to Mr Vaněk:

Everybody must moderate their own extreme standpoints in order to achieve compromise. Requirements are so huge, affecting our systems deeply, that both parties must get very well prepared for the talks in terms of collection of all the information. It is impossible to lead an unbinding debate.

Growing interest in trade unions

In the context of the situation at Hyundai, according to the economist of the local trade union represented at the company, Štefan Janík, the number of applications for trade union membership has increased significantly since the start of the protests.

Soňa Veverková, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (RILSA)