Now General Motors is dealing with strike action in South Korea as well as in the US.
The Korean unit's labour union stepped up pressure on the struggling automaker after members voted in favour of a series of strikes starting with an eight-hour walk-out today (20 September).
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This will be followed by a series of six hour strikes next week, between 24 and 27 September, with further action to be discussed for the following weeks.
Union leaders, representing about 10,000 workers, were unhappy with GM Korea management's lack of commitment, in recent meetings, to their wage demands, which include a 5.7% basic wage rise, annual performance based pay worth 1.5 months' salary and a cash bonus of KRW6.5m (US$5,460).
Union spokesman Dang Seong-geun told the local Yonyap news agency the company so far had "failed to make efforts to accept our demands without giving any further concrete time frame or details".
GM Korea has so far rejected these demands, pointing to the deteriorating business environment and the company's high debt.
It instead urged union members to fulfill their commitments and work towards building a strong future.
In the first eight months of 2019, GM Korea's global sales dropped by 6.2% to 287,540 units, with domestic sales down by almost 17% at 48,763 units and exports 3.6% lower at 238,777 units.
