Hyundai Walkout Becomes a Hot Issue for Housewives

“Rather than stage the walkout, we should resolve the problem through negotiations.”

“We should sympathize with workers and understand the situation forcing them to strike.”

As the Hyundai Motors union, a branch of the metal workers’ union, announced Friday that it will put the walkout to a vote on June 26 and 27, the wives of union members engaged in intense debate over the legitimacy of the strike on a free bulletin board of the union’s Web site.

Because the bulletin board can only be accessed by authorized members, the wives appear to have gained access using their husbands’ IDs.

The first poster was “Jeongho Mom,” who identified herself as the wife of a salesman who has been working for the company for 12 years.

In a post written at around 2 a.m. Friday, entitled “To heads of families working for Hyundai Motors,” she said, “My husband says that he is having a hard time selling cars due to soaring oil prices. The number of customers visiting his dealership has dropped by more than half, and he rarely receives phone calls.”

She continued, “I heard from my husband that whenever Hyundai goes on strike, customers blame them saying, ‘You are on strike again? You have a good salary. You should be reminded that there are a lot of unemployed people out there.’”

She urged union members not to stage the walkout and solve the issue through dialogue, saying “I heard that the company made a lot of concessions to employees last year though there was no strike.”

To this, “Seyeong Mom,” who identified herself as the wife of a union member working for the company for 23 years, posted a conflicting opinion.

She said, “Some say the working conditions of Hyundai Motors have improved a lot, but my husband and I are not proud of the company. If he is unable to work overtime due to not enough orders, his monthly salary is no more than 1.5 million won.”

“The company is not enthusiastic about negotiations, but when the union mentions a strike, the management appears for negotiations, but it is just going through the motions. Have you ever tried to think about the desperate feelings those who are contemplating the strike have?” she said.

In response to the post, “Jeongho Mom” said, “Please break free from your negative point of view. I believe that having insufficient orders constitutes a more compelling reason for us not to walk off the job. When we continue to work, customers will place more orders.”

Jeongho Mom’s first post recorded 1,100 hits as of 6 p.m. Friday, and its five replies were also read by hundreds of people.

Considering a post on the bulletin board is rarely read by over 1,000 people, the possible strike has become a hot issue for union members and their families, said a union official.

raks@donga.com