Trump Claims Oil Tankers Heading to U.S. Amid Iran War and Strait of Hormuz Crisis 
Bank of Japan Governor Signals Accommodative Stance Amid Negative Real Rates 
Alibaba Shares Slide as Jefferies Slashes Price Target Over AI Spending and Business Losses 
White House Warns Staff Over Insider Trading Amid Suspicious Oil Market Bets 
Trump Slams Iran Over Strait of Hormuz Oil Restrictions Amid Fragile Ceasefire 
Asia FX Weekly Gains Hold Amid U.S. Inflation Data and Iran Ceasefire Uncertainty 
Abbott Laboratories Ordered to Pay $53 Million in Premature Infant Formula Lawsuit 
Colombia and Ecuador Trade War Escalates With Retaliatory Tariffs 
Pony.ai, Uber, and Verne Launch Europe's First Commercial Robotaxi Service in Zagreb 
China's AI Stocks Surge as Zhipu and MiniMax Hit Record Highs 
U.S. Markets Post Strong Weekly Gains Despite Middle East Tensions and Rising Energy Prices 
BCA Research Warns U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Could Collapse, Maintains Cautious Equity Outlook 
Middle East Conflict Threatens Global Economic Stability, World Bank Warns 
Japan Consumer Confidence Drops Sharply Amid Rising Fuel Costs and Middle East Tensions 
U.S. Inflation Surges in March as Iran War and Tariffs Drive Prices Higher 
FedEx Pilots and Union Reach Tentative Agreement on 40% Pay Increase 
China Set to Exit Deflation Cycle in Early 2026, ANZ Analysts Say 
Kia Corp. revealed on Monday, Aug. 30, that it has signed a wage deal with its labor union. It was reported that this is the first time in 10 years that the South Korean automaker immediately reached an agreement to this kind of negotiation without the union taking action.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kia employees numbering 26,945 voted for wage proposals that include a pay hike of ₩75,000 or around $64.30 in basic monthly pay, cash bonuses of ₩5.8 million, and two months of performance-based wage pay. It was reported that 68% of the workers have voted in favor of the offers, while over 1,600 members of the union have abstained.
However, there is one thing that Kia Motors has rejected from the union’s demand. It did not accept the request for the retirement age to be extended to 65 years from the current 60. The company did not agree to the call for the reinstatement of fired employees as well. But despite this, most of the labor union members did not protest any more.
At any rate, Kia Motors’ parent company, Hyundai Motor Co., also signed a new wage deal with its union, and it happened without a strike as well. It was said that this is the third time that the company reached a deal with its workers without a strike since 2018.
Meanwhile, General Motors Korea also accepted the wage proposal of its labor union not long ago, but it still needs to be finalized. Things are progressing well, though, so it seems there will be no protest too.
GM Authority reported that GM Korea’s labor union voted recently for the wage deal and gained 66% approval after a two-day voting period. It was said that more or less 4,600 of the members out of the total 7,012 workers voted in favor of the new deal with the Korean unit of the Detroit, Michigan-headquartered carmaker.
Unlike Kia Motors, GM Korea’s union and management previously held a meeting, but they have failed to reach an agreement as the former rejected the company’s offer of ₩30,000 or a $25.76 pay increase on basic salary rate and a ₩4.5 million or about $3,864 in incentives. New negotiations finally led to an agreement as GM added gift coupons, advance payments, and even car maintenance coupons to sweeten the deal.
