Canadian auto union, Unifor, has been renegotiating contracts with the Big Three automakers for the past several months. In late September, a deal was reached with GM. Just a couple of weeks ago, Fiat Chrysler avoided a strike when they settled with Unifor. The GM and FCA agreements are pretty similar. Ford workers are still holding out for a better deal on wages.
Prime Minister May
Trade Union Congress (TUC) is a federation of trade unions in Britain and Wales (similar to our AFL-CIO. They have called for the prime minister to
require worker representatives be put on the boards of all companies. Mrs. May, Prime Minister, apparently made this pledge when running for office. TUC would like her to pony up. Things aren’t so great in South Korea. Tech giant, Samsung, was recently
forced to recall 2.5 million of its Galaxy Note 7 phones due to fire prone batteries. The country’s largest shipping line,
Hanjin Shipping Co. is apparently “on the brink of collapse after filing for bankruptcy in late August.” Three of the country’s shipping yards are under
creditor-led debt restructuring. And then late last month, workers at Hyundai Motor Co. engaged in their
first all-out strike in 12 years, stopping production on thousands of the company’s best-selling vehicles.
