[greenhorn]

Um, even if managing Indians is like herding cats, it can be done, and people have done it , and successfully. If someone cant and blames it on the workers, its kinda like the workman who faults his tools

I think its you yourself who posted about HH and HMSI products made by indians

[slipstream]

Here's a report in todays 'The Times of India' :

Hyundai Motor India Ltd on Thursday said that it has entered into a wage settlement agreement with its "workers committee". The countours of the deal signed, to be operational for three years (April 2009 to March 2012), envisages a salary hike of 21 to 24% over the period. HMIL has a factory complex in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. However, a section of workers affilliated to CITU have gone on strike. "This year's settlement not only marks the highest raise ever given, but also comes at a time when the entire automotive industry and the world economy is going through one of the toughest economic crisis" a statement said. With the increase in this year's wages, HMIL workers become the highest paid in the automobile sector in the country

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Um, even if managing Indians is like herding cats, it can be done, and people have done it , and successfully. If someone cant and blames it on the workers, its kinda like the workman who faults his tools

I think its you yourself who posted about HH and HMSI products made by indians

Yes, but I don't see the point you are making. If I was a worker, I would not want to be seen as a tool to be used or a cat to be herded either. I would not give my best in that environment.

[gpa]

Coming from an Industrial Relations background, I must say that, if the report in the paper is correct and only a section of the employees are striking, then HMIL cannot be blamed.

Sometimes, workers' demands can get unresonable and the management and a section of the workers affiliated to the trade unions are at loggerheads.

[Sawyer]

Its not the workers usually, and hearing CITU mentioned, I am also sure that they are being used by the usual power games that date expired leaders in CITU are usually up to. They are so out of touch with anything other than their CITU career path, and other political things going around, it makes one sick. I know, I have dealt with them myself. There are times when you question if they have transnational loyalties.

[amtak]

Originally Posted by headers

Guess you are being too critical here - aren't you Sir?

May be yes. But my friends have faced some or the other discrimination while they were with Korean Co as compared to American or even British/Russian/Japanese

Originally Posted by loving_alaap

Can we know, what korean style of working means??

Working hard is fine. However, How can you have seperate eating areas for Indians and rest? This is what I have "Heard" from my friends in Hyundai. Its not published anywhere.

Originally Posted by alankarm@sancha

India has not truly been a part of the recession, as seen in the western countries. We still have sufficient opportunities and jobs.

WHAT is meant by the Korean style of working??

Yes, Luckily India is not truly been a part of recession but whatever its been hit has already affected Millions in IT, Automobile, Banking and Financial sectors.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by amtak

However, How can you have seperate eating areas for Indians and rest?

How can you have separate eating areas for Indian officers and Indian workmen? Yet most Indian workplaces do.
If one is wrong, both must be.

[Gansan]

It seems the first grade technicians (production) have resorted to sit-in strike. This is the info I got just now from my wife's colleague, whose husband works for Hyundai Motors.

To my knowledge first grade techs will be more like trainees really, whose services can be terminated easily. Either they were left out/got a raw deal in the settlement, or the Union is using them as cannon fodder in a larger scheme of things.

[shortbread]

One of the primary reasons i respect Hyundai a lot is the fact that when most carmakers just look at India as a market to assemble and sell cars in, Hyundai have viewed us as a production base. Every Amica, i10 & i20 one sees internationally comes from India. No other carmaker, Indian or otherwise, exports cars from our shores in such huge numbers. Of course they do this to make money but it goes without saying the benefit this brings to India as well. Also Hyundai's sucess played a huge role in India being viewed as a global base for small car production.
I hope the instigators of this strike think about the company and its employees before their own meagre short term gains.

[aerohit]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

How can you have separate eating areas for Indian officers and Indian workmen? Yet most Indian workplaces do.
If one is wrong, both must be.

He said he heard about it from his friends, does that mean you are going to believe it? It could just be Korean food section and Indian food section.

You know, in India, a story is something when it starts from one person, and by the time it reaches 10th person, it is completely different.

Koreans have strong work ethic, and I dont know why some people are talking opposite. From what i have seen in my company in blr, people dont give a damn about their company or economy here, they just care about their salary and personal growth.

Another example - When Indians work in smaller countries of Africa they are not the best employers, needs no explnation (usually they end up getting shipped back to india for breaking local laws)

Let me teach you how Indian factory owners talk, behave, treat employees and also the journalists...that too on a foreign land.

YouTube - The plight of South Asian migrant workers - 20 Sep 08

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by aerohit

He said he heard about it from his friends, does that mean you are going to believe it? It could just be Korean food section and Indian food section.

You know, in India, a story is something when it starts from one person, and by the time it reaches 10th person, it is completely different.

Koreans have strong work ethic, and I dont know why some people are talking opposite. From what i have seen in my company in blr, people dont give a damn about their company or economy here, they just care about their salary and personal growth.

Another example - When Indians work in smaller countries of Africa they are not the best employers, needs no explnation (usually they end up getting shipped back to india for breaking local laws)

Let me teach you how Indian factory owners talk, behave, treat employees and also the journalists...that too on a foreign land.

Agree with you. I was about to mention about Korean/Indian food section too, because some Korean food (snakes ,for example-more about this later) will offend Indian sensibilities. But I have heard of instances of trainees quitting half way, some times even slapped for mistakes. We can only "hear" of such instances, nobody will allow us a factory visit to verify it.

Regarding the practices of Indian employers abroad, two wrongs do not make a right.

[amit]

Why is this repeating at Hyundai because over the years there have been quite a few strikes at Hyundai. Surely not all of them are because of hard brained, lazy Indian workers. It's amazing that we, in our own country, are looking down upon Indians and admiring Koreans. Every time there is a strike, we blame the Indian workers.

I am saying this because there have been more strikes at Hyundai then other car makers. There was a report of one strike at HMSI, one at Toyota I believe and that's it. Why not Honda or Maruti or Tata or GM or even Ford that's also based in Chennai?

[lurker]

>> It's amazing that we, in our own country, are looking down upon Indians and admiring Koreans. Every time there is a strike, we blame the Indian workers.

It is a habit inculcated from Indian private media who operate on behalf of special interest groups and corporate groups and foreign interests.

You will find them mostly questioning any Indian right violated, as the fault of Indians themselves, as in the recent case of Kalam. This is all done under guise of 'freedom of press' and 'freedom of speech'.

Nowhere else in the world will one find such blatant anti-nationalism and Indians being taught to despise themselves as in Indian pvt media.

[Gansan]

Let us not presume Hyundai came here to do a service or favour to India. We wanted an industry, they presumably got what they wanted by way of sops. They wanted a good market and we Indians lapped up their cars. It is not as if they were setting sales charts on fire before entering India, is it?

May be they are trying out things here which they could not back home in Korea. And it is not as if there never was any industrial unrest in Korea. I don't think it can be blamed entirely on the labour force in Chennai. After all, there are so many other automobile companies here. Why should it happen again and again only at Hyundai?

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by amit

There was a report of one strike at HMSI, one at Toyota I believe and that's it. Why not Honda or Maruti or Tata or GM or even Ford that's also based in Chennai?

In case of Toyota, a superior ( I think manager or supervisor ) was attacked by workers. Those who were culprits were sacked and issue became strike. That is bad IMHO.

About Hyundai, strikes are getting more common. Even at Korea Hyundai has faced some strike issues.

I think that Indian workers are quite tough to manage. I have seen this in IPCL complex and the reason why it was sold off to Reliance. I am not pinpointing, but this is a fact that sometimes the workers and their unity or association are quite a headache. But this is not a blanket statement. After our economy opened a bit, these issues are getting less.

Some more news on this topic.

Source : http://indiacar.net/news/n114751.htm

Article :

India (hmil),the countrys second biggest car maker said on Friday its production was down by at least 38-40% due to the labour strike at its factory near Chennai. The companys attempt to buy peace with its workers by hiking salaries seems to have backfired as a section of workers protested the hike and resorted to a sit-in strike at the plant from Thursday night.

While Hyundai played down the issue on Friday morning and said the production was at near-normal levels, the company spokesperson said in the evening that production was down by at least 38-40%. "Some workers are striking in the plant and we are trying to negotiate with them," the spokesperson added.

The HMIL employee union, supported by the CITU is spearding the strike. As part of the wage settlement, Hyundai gave a hike ranging from 21-24% over three years, effective from 1 April 2009. While the CITU-led union was pressing for its recognition, management reached wage settlement with the existing Workers committee.

HMIL union leaders claimed that over 90% of the permanent workers were on a sit-in strike but the company dismissed the same. Hyundai Motor has over 1,600 permanent technicians at the plant.

It may be recalled that this is the second labour unrest in the last four months at Hyundai. In May, a 18-day strike by the same HMIL union was called off after the State Labour Commissioner held parleys with the union and management.

The union claims that the management has violated the governments advice by entering into a wage settlement with the Workers Committee. It is planning to take up the matter with the state government.

Apart from the standoff between the management and its workers, what will be watched closely is how the government reacts to the development. Tamil Nadu has attracted a slew of multi-national companies such as Hyundai, Ford, Dell and Saint-Gobain, but how it reacts to the Hyundai issue could be a pointer for the other MNCs.