Hyundai Motor: Union threatening to go on strike as pay negotiations failed

Hyundai Motor may experience its very first company strike in three years as its negotiation with union workers has failed. The employees are asking for better pay as well as an extension for the retirement age, but the management and the union were not able to reach an agreement.

The union’s application to stage a walkout

According to Korea Joongang Daily, it will be a big walkout if the workers decide to push it through because out of the 48,599 members of Hyundai Motor’s labor union, 73.8% have agreed to stage a strike.

Since more than 50% of the union members have approved the walkout, the group can now submit an application to the National Labor Relations Commission so they can legally organize and hold a strike. Then again, the union said that while the initial talks did not yield good results, it is still open for another talk with the management of Hyundai Motor.

The workers are also hoping that they could finish the talks before August comes, but the issue will only end if the company will finally make a reasonable offer concerning their wages. The union is asking for a pay raise of ₩99,000 plus 30% of the profits last year as incentives.

They are also expecting Hyundai Motor to grant the request to extend the retirement age from 60 to 64. The talks for these requests began in May, and they have already engaged in at least 13 rounds of negotiations, but they fail every time.

Hyundai Heavy also in conflict with the labor union

At any rate, it is not just Hyundai Motor that is dealing with labor union conflict as Hyundai Heavy Industries is also negotiating with its own union that has already staged a strike. In fact, the company has sought a court order against the workers who are occupying a shipbuilding crane.

The unionized workers occupied the crane at Hyundai Heavy’s shipyard in Ulsan, and they have been staying there since Tuesday of this week. The employees are on strike as the management can’t present an agreeable proposal that will solve the union and the company’s two-year wage dispute.

"The workers plan to go on strike until Friday, but how long the situation will go on is unclear," Kim Hyeong Gyun, the union’s director of policy planning, told Yonhap News Agency.