Hyundai Motor's labor union has been protesting against the restriction on the use of Wi-Fi during working hours at its production plant, rejecting overtime work.
According to Hyundai Motor's labor and management on Dec. 10, Hyundai Motor has been restricting the use of Wi-Fi at its plant in Ulsan since Dec. 9.
The management has allowed labor workers to use Wi-Fi, which was previously available at the Ulsan plant 24 hours a day, only during meal and break times. In some factories, workers were caught accessing Wi-Fi and watching videos during working hours.
“Recently, some production workers were frequently seen surfing the Internet or watching videos on their smartphones while operating, which could also cause safety problems. So we limited their use,” a Hyundai official said.
In response, the union claimed that the Wi-Fi installation is collective agreements reached in 2011 and 2016, but the company is violating. Accordingly, the union decided to refuse extra work on Dec. 14 following a protest rally in front of the main building of its Ulsan plant on Dec. 9.
"It is not a matter of whether to use Wi-Fi or not, but of the management's disregard of the union without any consultation process," the union said. "We cannot follow the company's unilateral and coercive decision to ignore union members' rights."
If the company does not withdraw its Wi-Fi access restriction, the union will hold an expanded operation committee meeting on Dec. 18 to decide on the schedule for future struggles.
