In the small American city of Moraine, Ohio, factory workers in the Chinese owned glass company Fuyao Glass America find themselves increasingly hindered by a clash of culture. With the recent union campaign by the United Automobile Workers and a lawsuit by a former manager, Fuyao is coming head to head with American expectations of work culture. Along with allegations surrounding worker safety and a commitment to production more than the fair treatment of employees, the Chinese glass company faces a new interpretation of workers' rights.

Fuyao Glass America, a subsidiary of the Fuyao Glass Industry Group (SHA: 600660), is an automotive glass company that was established in Moraine, Ohio. Spearheaded by the current Fuyao Group CEO Cho Tak Wong, Fuyao Glass America is an ambitious investment into America's economy. In 2014, Wong began transforming the formerly abandoned General Motors (GM  ) plant into what is now a plant under Fuyao Glass America. In doing so, 2,000 jobs were instantly created, leading some to admit that it is now the largest automotive glass manufacturing plant in the world.

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Spending around $1 billion on the plant over the course of 3 years, Wong's American glass plant is the manifestation of a greater trend in industrial employment. While the Chinese economy began to flourish during the 1980s, in part due to a new focus on international trade and the manufacturing industry, the American industry began to go downwards. Over the course of twenty-five years, the number of factory employees in Ohio has decreased from more than 1 million workers, to less than 700,000. This proved to be a benefit for Wong, who was determined to revitalize the factory industry with the establishment of the plant in Ohio. This dedication to the small city was later supported by Cho's donations institutions in Ohio, such as a local university and a local well-known steakhouse in Ohio.

Despite Cho's investment into the plant, and the state of Ohio itself, the Fuyao glass plant still faces tension between its American employees. In November of 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an American governmental agency dedicated to worker injuries and death, fined Fuyao more than $225,000 for various violations of safety. One example of the violation involved the lack of locks to terminate power for machines in order for workers to maintain and fix them.

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In addition to their legal woes, Fuyao's interpretation of worker safety has been expanded on by the workers themselves. One employee, who was later fired, expanded on Fuyao's acknowledged a dedication to production more than worker safety, stating the employees needed to shut down malfunctioning equipment, the Chinese managers are "jumping on moving conveyors to fix it as the line is running." Similarly, another employee issued complaints that her working area lacked proper ventilation.

The differences in work culture in a factory environment are primarily the effect of Chinese companies' unfamiliarity with American labor standards, standards of which in China, are not as enforced. In an article by the New York Times, Mary Gallagher, a director of Chinese Studies at the University of MIchigan, highlighted the key difference between American and Chinese workers. While Chinese factories are usually employed by migrant workers who are more submissive, American workers are primarily driven by work culture where authority is shared by everyone. Gallagher expanded on this, stating that the Fuyao CEO "hasn't ever had probably this type of pressure from a work force."

While there are certainly contentions between American employees and Chinese managers, Fuyao will have to solve the cultural gap between the two. In 2016 alone, the company had a $41 million net loss, although it's parent company Fuyao Group had a $104 million net profit. While there is a no clear link between work culture and yearly profits for Fuyao Glass America, the glass company will have to fix its cultural clash to avoid legal trouble and maximize potential profit in the future.