Strike at Hyundai car plant looms: unions

The threat of a strike at South Korean carmaker Hyundai’s Czech plant has increased according to union negotiators. After talks on Friday, the unions said management of the plant at Nošovice in eastern Moravia seemed intent to punish workers. The head of the KOVO union, Josef Středula, said he saw a 75 percent chance of a full strike going ahead.

Around 400 workers downed tools for an hour at the start of the month in a spontaneous protest at excessive overtime and what they described as poor working conditions. Management has since agreed to abandon overtime until the end of the year. Talks between the two sides are set to resume on Monday. Hyundai employs around 2,000 workers at the plant which started production in November 2008.

Author: Chris Johnstone