Hyundai strike ends;

Hyundai's production for models sold at Washington DC Hyundai dealerships has picked back up again after a series of worker strikes in Seoul, Korea. Thousands of riot police broke up a strike at a parts supplier that supplies car parts for Hyundai. 2,700 police used water cannons and other crowd control measures to break up strikers who occupied a plant of Yoosung Enterprise. The company produces camshafts, cylinder liners, and piston rings for Hyundai models sold at Lancaster Hyundai Dealer and other Hyundai dealerships. Hyundai will return to regular production as quickly as possible, and production of Hyundai models slowed down slightly after the strikes.

Hyundai models are considered to be among the highest quality on the market and rarely need a trip to a Virginia Service Dealer. But, the strike at the parts supplier has affected availability of key parts for Hyundai models. The piston rings prodcued by Yoosung Enterprise are used on 70 percent of Hyundai vehicles. The plant that the strike occurred at is located in Asan, a city about 48 miles south of Seoul. Two diesel engine lines had halted production after the strike, however the strike was not long enough to affect inventories at dealerships.

Police responded to the strikes quickly and in very large numbers, with far more police than strikers. Police declared that the strikes were illegal and moved in on the Yoosung plant. Strikers also barred non-strikers from entering the premises, which is one reason why the police declared the strike illegal. 500 out of the 540 strikers were detained by the police. It was not clear when production would resume at the plant with non unionized workers. 400 of the workers have been released with another 100 still in detention for questioning. There was very limited loss from the strike and Hyundai shares were also up recently.