Hyundai Motor union launches first full-day strike in a decade

Hyundai Motor's union launched a full-day strike Friday after wage negotiations, marking its first eight-hour walkout in a decade.

Members of the Hyundai Motor branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) working the morning production shift — which normally begins at 6:45 a.m. — did not report to work Friday under the union's strike directive. Workers scheduled for the afternoon shift, which begins at 3:30 p.m., will also stay off the job.

All production lines at Hyundai Motor's Ulsan, Jeonju and Asan plants will consequently remain shut down for the day. With both the morning and afternoon shifts staging eight-hour walkouts, production lines will be idled for a total of 16 hours.

Around 39,000 union members are participating in the strike, including office workers as well as production workers.

The union has staged intermittent partial strikes lasting between two and six hours since wage negotiations began on May 6, but Friday marks its first eight-hour strike. It is also the union's first full-day strike since Sept. 26, 2016, during collective bargaining that year.

Friday's walkout brings the union's cumulative strike time this year to 60 hours, while Hyundai Motor's production lines have been idled for a total of 120 hours.

The union has also announced four-hour partial strikes for Monday and Tuesday, which are expected to cause further disruption in production.

Industry officials estimate Hyundai Motor has already lost production of around 55,200 vehicles, based on its output of roughly 460 vehicles per hour. The cumulative loss in potential sales is estimated to exceed 2.3 trillion won ($1.7 billion), based on the average selling price per vehicle.

The two sides remain divided over three major issues: the union's demand for a 50 percent increase in bonuses, the reinstatement of union members dismissed over illegal acts committed during previous union activities and an extension of the retirement age.

The demands were made separately from the union's proposed wage increase in this year's negotiations.

The union and management resumed talks on Tuesday, roughly 40 days after their 15th round of negotiations ended without an agreement, but failed to narrow their differences.

The company maintains that the three issues are unrelated to this year's wage negotiations. It also argues that there are no grounds to reinstate workers who were lawfully dismissed and that extending the retirement age is an issue that should first be addressed by lawmakers rather than decided at the labor and management level.

The union, however, argues that fixed wages, including base salaries, account for only 54.8 percent of members' pay. It leaves workers dependent on overtime and holiday work to maintain their livelihoods, so the bonuses should be increased.

On the retirement age, the union argues that labor and management have reached agreements on such changes in the past. It also says reinstating dismissed workers is necessary to restore trust between the two sides.

"The company's retained earnings stood at 101.3 trillion won as of last year, which is not a level that would prevent it from bearing the costs of higher bonuses and an extended retirement age," the union said.

Union leaders and delegates will travel to Hyundai Motor Group's headquarters in Yangjae-dong, Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Friday to participate in a joint auto industry strike rally organized by the KMWU — to directly press the company.

The union plans to convene its central strike committee on Tuesday to discuss further industrial action if the company does not present a new proposal.

BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]