Heavy protest of workers at the Hyundai Headquarters
Unionized workers at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. set out to protest on Thursday against a merger which will result in a split up of the company.
The unionized workers began their 4 hour protest at the company's headquarters in Ulsan, approximately 400km southeast of Seoul. They will go ahead with the 4 hour protest until
Tuesday before switching to an eight hour protest on Wednesday
In March, Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a deal, worth an estimated 2 trillion won (US$1.6 billion), with the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) to buy Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. The bank is the largest shareholder of Daewoo, with a controlling 55.7 percent stake in the company.
Under the deal, Hyundai Heavy plans to split into two entities, which the labor union claims will lead to massive job cuts.
Hyundai Heavy shareholders are set to approve the proposed split on May 31.
Hyundai Heavy swung to black in the first quarter of this year with a net profit of 17.3 billion won from a loss of 132 billion won a year earlier. Last year, Hyundai Heavy suffered a net loss of 633 billion won.
Hyundai Heavy said its production would not take a serious hit from the latest strike but that it may take legal action against the union if it turns out to be illegal.