Kumho Tire Tentative Agreement on Labor-Management Negotiations Rejected by Union Members... 51.6% Oppose

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The tentative agreement on the 2021 wages and collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Kumho Tire labor and management was rejected in the union member vote.

According to the Kumho Tire labor union on the 30th, a vote on the tentative CBA agreement was held from the 28th to 29th among 2,456 of the 2,689 registered union members (voter turnout 91.34%) at the Gwangju, Gokseong, and Pyeongtaek factories, resulting in 1,268 votes against (51.63%) and 1,188 votes in favor (48.37%).

Accordingly, the union plans to form a dispute countermeasure committee and discuss future directions after the summer vacation scheduled from the 1st to the 5th of next month.

Earlier, on the 25th, Kumho Tire labor and management tentatively agreed in negotiations on ▲ wage freeze ▲ job security and future vision for domestic factories ▲ relocation of the Gwangju factory ▲ distribution of employee stock ownership (with the management contributing 25 billion KRW) ▲ increase in summer vacation allowance (200,000 KRW).

Among these, the tentative agreement on job security and future vision for domestic factories is based on relocating the aging Gwangju factory and simultaneously building a state-of-the-art smart factory.

Regarding this, Kumho Tire stated, "We feel serious concern and a heavy responsibility about the normalization of Kumho Tire’s management and the impact on the local economy," adding, "We will sincerely engage in negotiations to ensure the collective bargaining is concluded promptly."