[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Aju News) -- Unionized workers at South Korea's top carmaker Hyundai Motor have endorsed a revised wage package, ending a prolonged labor dispute that cost some 1.52 billion US dollars in lost production.
The company said a new wage deal for 2017 won 61.06 percent of votes cast by 46,082 workers on Monday at their plant in the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan. The deal would be applied retroactively.
Union leaders and management agreed on a wage package on December 19 that included an increase in basic monthly payment by 58,000 won (53 US dollars), bonuses worth 300 percent of basic pay and three million won in extra compensation.
The company came up with a revised package to raise extra compensation by 200,000 won after workers voted down the deal in December. The new deal calls for Hyundai to set up a social contribution fund worth three billion won and hire about 3,500 part-time workers as full-time employees by 2021.
Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors have been hit by frequent strikes, excessive demands and intervention in management. Hyundai lost about 1.62 trillion won ($1.52 billion) last year due to strikes that have been on and off since wage negotiations faltered in July.
Also on Monday, Kia and its union worked out a similar wage deal.
Workers at Hyundai and Kia are relatively well paid, along with good fringe benefits and welfare. However, they always remain ungratified, struggling to get bigger overtime, bonuses, and other one-time incentives.
Combined car sales of Hyundai and Kia hit a four-year low of 7.25 million units last year, falling far short of their earlier goal due to poor performances abroad. This year, the world's fifth-largest auto group set a modest goal of selling 7.5 million vehicles.
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