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Hyundai Motor and its unionized workers have finally reached an agreement with regard to pay. Then again, it was mentioned on Tuesday, July 12, that the new wage deal is still tentative.
According to Yonhap News Agency, this progress in the negotiation between Hyundai Motor and the unionized workers has temporarily averted the staging of a strike or walkout. The workers voted to go on strike early last month as the talks have failed.
It was reported that this is the fourth time in four consecutive years that the management of the South Korean automaker and its unionized employees have made arrangements for a new wage deal without actually staging a labor strike.
This is still a tentative deal, but the company is expecting this to be finalized once the workers approve the plan. They will be holding a meeting to vote on the proposal, and this was scheduled for next Tuesday.
Based on the reports, Hyundai Motor and the workers agreed to a KRW98,000 increase in basic monthly pay, which is equivalent to $74.80 in US dollars. In addition, the company pledged to hire more employees and build a new electric vehicle plant in South Korea. The workers previously protested about Hyundai's plans to build EV factories overseas since it is offering more jobs abroad than in its native country.
Hyundai Motor will start the construction of its new plant for electric vehicles in early 2023. The carmaker is aiming to begin production in this facility by 2025, and this was also recorded in the agreement. The said factory will be Hyundai's first in South Korea since 1996.
"Together with the plan announced in May to build an electric vehicle factory in Georgia, the United States, building Hyundai's first EV factory in South Korea will help us respond to global EV demand more proactively," Hyundai said in a statement confirming the construction of its new EV plant.
It was also agreed that workers will get a bonus of 200% of their monthly salary plus KRW4 million. There is also an option to get 20 Hyundai Motor shares per person. At any rate, the deal was finally reached after 16 meetings. Apparently, the first 15 rounds of negotiations that were held in the company's Ulsan office all failed.
