Word: daewoo
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...From the start, Zahner's friendly advances met resistance. Last October, soon after he was given responsibility for Daewoo labor relations, Zahner popped in unannounced on union leaders in their spartan office at the Bupyeong plant. He went worker to worker, shaking hands, introducing himself and passing out business cards. "I've been wanting to meet you," he said to Choi Jong Hak, the union spokesman at the time. Choi retorted, "I haven't been wanting to meet you." The union is still burned up over Daewoo's decision to lay off 1,750 workers last year. Leaders blame...
...Ornery employees are not the only problem GM must confront in the coming months. Since 1998, Daewoo's market share in Korea has tumbled from nearly 30% to under 12%. Its factories run at about half their capacity. In late August, the plants were shut entirely when a major supplier stopped shipping parts after Daewoo failed to pay for previous orders. GM expects Daewoo will need three years to get its production up to the point where it can break even...
...market share in Korea with fresh models, including the launch of a new sedan this year and, down the road, a sport-utility vehicle and a minivan. It is all part of the U.S. giant's grand plan to boost its sales in the fast-growing Asian market. "GM Daewoo will be the biggest piece of our business in the region," says Nick Reilly, the incoming chief executive of the new GM Daewoo unit...
...Daewoo's factory workers may finally be coming to the realization that having American managers is better than having no jobs at all. The union has ceded ground to Zahner on key issues, such as its collective bargaining agreement. Under the old agreement, there was a five-year moratorium on layoffs and a clause granting the union the right to determine which cars were made in which plants. GM refused to acquire Daewoo until the agreement was altered to eliminate such un-American hindrances. In the end, the Detroit automaker bought two plants in Korea and one in Vietnam...
...Ordinary workers, too, appear to be getting used to the idea of GM being around. "Initially everyone wanted Daewoo to revive itself," says Kang Kyung Soo, a member of the Daewoo worker-safety team and a 13-year veteran. "But now since it is inevitable that GM is taking over, the consensus among the workers is: we hope GM will make things better." Some union members even confess they find Zahner much more open than the usual authoritarian Korean managers, and that the workers are becoming more and more pro-GM. Kang, the secretary-general, says he has a "good...