Hyundai Motor Union Decides on First Strike in 7 Years... Partial Strikes from the 3rd to 5th

The Hyundai Motor Company labor union is going on strike for the first time in seven years due to difficulties in this year’s wage and collective bargaining negotiations.

According to industry sources on September 2, the Hyundai Motor Company labor union held a central strike countermeasures committee meeting that afternoon and decided to strike for three days. On September 3 and 4, both the morning shift (first shift) and afternoon shift (second shift) will strike for two hours each day, totaling four hours. On September 5, there will be a partial strike lasting four hours.

Representatives of Hyundai Motor Company labor and management held a wage and collective agreement meeting for this year on June 18 at the Ulsan plant. Hyundai Motor Company

This is the first time since 2018 that the Hyundai Motor Company labor union has decided to strike. For about seven years, labor and management concluded negotiations without a strike, taking into account economic conditions such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Japan’s removal of South Korea from its whitelist.

However, this year, there are significant differences between labor and management regarding ordinary wages and the extension of the retirement age. Since the introductory meeting on June 18, the two sides have held 20 rounds of negotiations but have failed to make meaningful progress. The labor union demanded an increase of 141,300 won in base pay (excluding seniority raises), but Hyundai Motor Company’s first offer was an increase of 87,000 won in base pay.

A union official stated, “Compared to last year’s first offer of 101,000 won, this is far too low,” and added, “Our demand to extend the current retirement age of 60 to the end of the year before employees begin receiving the national pension (up to 64 years old) was also not accepted.”