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In a move which is surprising only for the time it took to emerge, a major manufacturing trade union has announced a job action in response to factory automation. The Hyundai Motor branch of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union launched a three-day partial strike at Hyundai’s manufacturing operations in Ulsan, South Korea, where the company builds many of its passenger vehicles. The labor dispute combines traditional wage and bonus negotiations with growing concerns over the future deployment of humanoid robots on the factory floor. Union leaders say they want binding labor-management agreements before any humanoid robots are brought onto domestic production lines.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the country’s economy grew by a modest-for China 4.3 percent in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, marking its slowest pace of growth in more than three years. Reporting from Reuters says that while exports continued to provide some support, weaker consumer spending, a prolonged downturn in the property sector, and soft domestic demand weighed on overall economic activity.
