Episode 166. Secret weapon.
Yoon Dae-soo looked at me.
“Are you threatening me now?”
“A threat? I am exercising my rights. It’s your right to strike, and it’s my right to decide whether to start the plant. You can exercise your rights to your heart’s content, can’t I?”
“All the media will criticize you.”
That was nonsense.
“Me? For what name? Because they banned overtime work and didn’t pay them? How do I work overtime when there is actually no stock? Contrary to what you think, I’m going to get the press for just ensuring your employment in this situation. You won’t be able to use the provocative slogan of guaranteeing workers’ right to live, which you often used. I have no intention of firing anyone.”
Yoon Dae-soo, unable to find anything wrong with what I said, finally took a step back.
“..Let’s talk about the company’s detailed requirements first.”
The momentum has shifted towards me.
I opened my mouth as I recalled the list I had prepared.
“first! The wage increase rate and performance pay of employees will be determined fairly and reasonably in conjunction with the company’s business performance. So, the union should not get involved in this.”
Yoon Dae-soo immediately protested.
“Don’t say nonsense. Because we can’t do that, we’re afraid we’re going on strike…”
I cut him off.
“For our Damoye affiliates, the maximum bonus is 100% of the annual salary. And in fact, most affiliates are receiving maximum performance pay every year.”
At those words, Dae-soo Yoon put a blank expression on his face.
“..100% of your salary?”
The performance of the automobile industry was usually 150-300%+α based on the monthly salary.
Based on that standard, it was 1200%, so I was surprised.
Of course, it was said that the maximum was the case, and in the current management situation, it was of course 0%.
“That’s right. At Damoye, we are paying our employees voluntarily and voluntarily, much more than the salaries you have been paid for fighting like this. Is this still absurd?”
Yoon Dae-soo’s attitude softened slightly.
“…let’s hear the rest.”
“second! The head office management decides which model and how many will be produced at which plant. This will be determined based on the production efficiency of each plant.”
This time, Yoon Dae-soo shook his head.
“It’s meant to make each factory compete, but it doesn’t seem like a ploy to break up the union. I absolutely do not agree.”
“What kind of North Korea is this? It is only natural for those who work hard and do a lot of work to be rewarded more.
“We are also people with a conscience. Even if there is no such competition system, we do at least as much work as we receive.”
That’s your opinion.
“Anyway, let’s talk about the third condition again. third! Please cooperate as actively as possible in the development of new products. For now, the company will survive only if a new car is released as soon as possible. What is difficult, why not now, this situation should never come out. If you have any difficulties, please ask the head office and ask them to solve it. Don’t use it as an excuse.”
Yoon Dae-su nodded his head to see if he agreed on this point.
“..it … makes it so. However, the first and second conditions are absolutely unacceptable.”
“If my requirements are not met, I will ban overtime and overtime. We have no intention of intentionally disrupting the strike or deploying police forces. So, Chairman, talk well with the members of the executive branch, and if you think a strike is necessary, do it. If you accept my request instead, I promise you one thing.”
“..what promise are you talking about?”
“We will make Baekwoo Car the best automobile company in the world. In addition, you will become employees of such a company. Of course, the salary will be the highest in the auto industry.”
Yoon Dae-soo moved his mouth a few times with a complicated expression, and then got up from his seat.
“.. let’s talk with the members of the executive branch.”
#Yoon Dae-soo returned to the union office and convened an emergency meeting.
As the vice chairman and other executives gathered, he opened his mouth.
“CEO Kang Jae-woon, who took over the company this time, to be honest, I thought he was young, but it was not normal. It’s harder to deal with than anyone I’ve ever met.”
said the secretary general.
“What else is difficult to deal with? If not, can’t we just fight until we get it?”
Yoon Dae-soo shook his head.
“It’s been like that until now, but this time it’s difficult…”
“Chairman. Did you go and hear any threats? Why are you suddenly showing weakness?”
Yoon Dae-soo smiled with a surprised face.
“Ha… a threat? I’ve heard very scary threats.”
The secretary exclaimed excitedly.
“Is that so too? What the hell did that kid say?”
“If there is a strike, I will just accept it.”
“..yes?”
“Just accept it. They won’t even call the police.”
“..what kind of threat is that?”
“It’s a problem because I don’t care whether the strike lasts for one year or two. He says he can stand it.”
“a. Isn’t that just a joke? It will cost you 780 billion won a month, how are you going to survive that?”
“Well. He’s such a genius, so even if we go on strike, there might be a way to make up for it. Rumors say that they make several trillion won a year in profit, so would that be a problem? If that’s the case, we’ll be the only ones out if we go on strike.”
The secretary-general took on a serious face then.
“It’s a big deal. Then shouldn’t it be a public opinion contest? It’s a big company, so I think they’ll be very concerned about public opinion.”
“It’s no use. We’re not going to fire a single person, so we don’t have a reason to use it.”
“..a really strong enemy.”
After that, we exchanged opinions for a long time.
There were no sharp numbers.
In the end, Yoon Dae-soo declared with a tired face.
“For now, we bend as President Kang tells us to do.”
Some executives objected to that statement.
Even they had no clear number, so the backlash soon subsided.
Yoon Dae-soo continued.
“Let’s watch the situation. If CEO Kang promises to make our company a top-notch company and treats us well, there’s no need to go on strike to be honest. If we don’t keep our promise, it’s never too late to discuss measures again. There must be some way to fight public opinion over President Kang not keeping his promise.”
#Early April.
I was speaking alone with President Woo Kwan-ho.
“president. Did the union cooperate well?”
President Woo nodded his head in admiration.
“yes. They cooperate so well that it is rather awkward. To see the company management as the object of struggle and to make such a docile union that goes on strike even if there is only a small amount of pods… that’s amazing.”
“A strike is not always possible. There has to be a justification, and there must be something to gain, but that just removed the excuse.”
“Of course it is, but it is not easy to solve both of them at once. In the normal case, it is difficult to bear the damage from a strike, so we have no choice but to compromise. Because you are the representative, you can use that method.”
“haha. Thank you for your words. So, moving on to the main topic, the reason why I called the CEO today is to create the electrical equipment division.”
At my words, President Woo tilted his head.
“Hmm…there is already a department in charge of the battlefield, but I don’t quite understand the meaning of the words.”
“Now, the department in charge of the battlefield is literally just receiving electronic components from subcontractors and mounting them on cars, isn’t it?”
“I want a business unit that can make its own electronic components.”
President Wu’s expression turned shaky.
“The electrical components themselves are not our specialty. I’ve never even heard of a car company doing it directly. Why do you want to do that…?”
“Let me ask you one thing. President, do you think we will be able to take the first place in market share if the new car we are developing now enters the market?”
“..the market share will go up, but it will be difficult to reach No.1…”
“When I start a business, I am a person who unconditionally wins first place in order to be able to get a job. To be honest, it’s hard for us to catch up with competitors in a short period of time with our car’s own performance, isn’t it?”
“So I plan to outrun my competitors on the battlefield.”
“Um…it’s a shame to say this, but the battlefield is only a secondary means. Even if it is difficult to sell a lot of cars, we have no choice but to raise the performance of the car itself.”
Most of the people in the auto industry, not only Woo, would think this way.
Now that everyone is looking at the battlefield lightly, now was the best time to compete on the battlefield.
“The battlefield is a secondary means… Let’s say there are cars A and B. A is slightly inferior in performance, but there is a navigation system that guides you to the destination the fastest, automatically maintains the distance from the vehicle in front, and even has a function to warn you if something approaches from your blind spot. B has good performance, but doesn’t have those features. If you were the boss, which car would you choose?”
After thinking for a moment at my question, President Woo clenched his fist.
“..even if it were me, I would choose A.”
“Yes? That’s why we’re creating an electric field division. A good battlefield will be as great a weapon as a good engine. In particular, the navigation system will be exclusively supplied to white cow cars in the future, so it will probably be of great help to sales.”
“Only in our car? When it comes to navigation products, the only useful U-butterfly that came out a while ago…”
Mr. Woo, who was muttering, asked me with a realized face.
“Is your butterfly is an affiliate company?”
“Right. Originally, we had to release the supply to the tuning shop, but because we were planning to acquire the white cow in the first place, we were only selling it for landfilling for new cars. The initial supply had to be released to some extent, so so far, we have handed over to Gowon and Jina, but from next month, we plan to put it only in white cow tea.”
“Ah… Even before you even took over Baekwoo Tea, you have prepared a secret weapon to outperform your competitors.”
“If I don’t have the confidence to win, I don’t fight. Conversely, if I bet a fight, it means I am confident that I will win. The key to that is the battlefield. As you know, I am an electronics specialist, right? Navigation is just the beginning. We will continue to develop new maps in the future, and our competitors will never be able to keep up with us.”
President Woo clenched his fists with excitement.
“Whoa… is this what it feels like to be on the winning side? Listening to the CEO’s words, something tickles my heart and makes my heart flutter… I feel like I can get rid of Gowon and Jina in one breath.”
“My first goal is to bring Go Won and Jin Acha down. Now, in terms of sales, that number is 8, and we are 1, right? Let’s do the opposite!”
