Word: plant
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...officials are trying to ease the adversarial relationship lest their planned turnaround be torpedoed by strikes and other industrial actions. The task has fallen to Lawrence Zahner, 48, an affable, fast-talking Baltimore native who in the early 1970s painted cars at a GM plant at night to help pay his way through college. As GM's vice president for manufacturing in Korea, Zahner has spent his first year on the job trying to use a mix of down-home American good humor and hard bargaining to get the workers' union on board. "My point to them is that...
...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...
...union, though, remains profoundly suspicious of GM's intentions. In May, just after the deal was signed, Zahner held a seminar at the Bupyeong plant for about 100 unionists to describe GM's vision of Daewoo's future, stressing the need for Daewoo to be part of a global company. One leader, Cho Ha Soo, began grilling Zahner. Cho called GM's acquisition "stealing," and demanded that the company clarify its position on layoffs. He accused Zahner of evading his questions. After the tense exchange, Zahner singled out Cho and said, "Starting today, we're going to be friends...
...radical. They are the Japan that can say no. Governor Shiro Asano of Miyagi prefecture broke a taboo in December 2000 when he allowed public access to police records as a means to make government more transparent. Governor Masayasu Kitagawa of Mie prefecture unilaterally canceled a major nuclear power plant, a project as dear to Tokyo's planners as Nagano's dams. And in Tokushima, Governor Tadashi Ota won re-election in April 2002 by promising to stop construction of a giant sluice dam on the Yoshino River. In a recent referendum, 90% of Tokushima city voters opposed...
...already the Golden God. How can I step down that far?" ROBERT PLANT, former Led Zeppelin frontman, on whether he would accept a knighthood...