SEOUL, August 11 (AJP) - Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor will resume partial strikes this week after wage negotiations failed to narrow differences last month.
The workers, who had just returned from their summer holiday, decided Tuesday to stage additional rounds of partial strikes from Wednesday through early next week, halting production for four hours each on Wednesday and Thursday before extending the stoppage to six hours each on Friday and next Tuesday.
If carried out as planned, the additional strikes would result in 40 hours of lost production, bringing the cumulative stoppage from this year's wage dispute to about 100 hours.
The automaker's union has been ratcheting up pressure in recent weeks. In July, it staged three rounds of partial strikes over nine days, starting with two-hour walkouts per shift from July 13 to 15 before extending them to four hours per shift.
The automaker estimated that last month's strikes resulted in production losses of more than 42,000 vehicles. The company's domestic output in July fell 22 percent from the previous month to 137,449 vehicles, while domestic sales dropped 14.4 percent from a year earlier to 48,113 units.
But the union left room for negotiations, saying it would suspend any scheduled strike once wage talks with management resume, possibly as early as Aug. 18.
The union is seeking a 149,600 won increase in monthly base pay, a performance bonus equal to 30 percent of the company's net profit from the previous year, and an increase in regular bonuses to 800 percent from 750 percent. It is also demanding a prior labor agreement before any legal changes to the retirement age as well as the rehiring of workers who were fired.
Both sides have gone back and forth between talks and strikes since last month without narrowing differences on major issues after the union rejected an offer from the company that included an 89,000 won increase in monthly base pay, a performance bonus worth 350 percent of base pay plus 10 million won, and 15 treasury shares per employee.
The workers, who had just returned from their summer holiday, decided Tuesday to stage additional rounds of partial strikes from Wednesday through early next week, halting production for four hours each on Wednesday and Thursday before extending the stoppage to six hours each on Friday and next Tuesday.
If carried out as planned, the additional strikes would result in 40 hours of lost production, bringing the cumulative stoppage from this year's wage dispute to about 100 hours.
The automaker's union has been ratcheting up pressure in recent weeks. In July, it staged three rounds of partial strikes over nine days, starting with two-hour walkouts per shift from July 13 to 15 before extending them to four hours per shift.
The automaker estimated that last month's strikes resulted in production losses of more than 42,000 vehicles. The company's domestic output in July fell 22 percent from the previous month to 137,449 vehicles, while domestic sales dropped 14.4 percent from a year earlier to 48,113 units.
But the union left room for negotiations, saying it would suspend any scheduled strike once wage talks with management resume, possibly as early as Aug. 18.
The union is seeking a 149,600 won increase in monthly base pay, a performance bonus equal to 30 percent of the company's net profit from the previous year, and an increase in regular bonuses to 800 percent from 750 percent. It is also demanding a prior labor agreement before any legal changes to the retirement age as well as the rehiring of workers who were fired.
Both sides have gone back and forth between talks and strikes since last month without narrowing differences on major issues after the union rejected an offer from the company that included an 89,000 won increase in monthly base pay, a performance bonus worth 350 percent of base pay plus 10 million won, and 15 treasury shares per employee.
Amid the union's new strike plans, Hyundai Motor's shares closed down 1.23 percent at 403,000 won for the day.
AJP Takeaways:
- Hyundai Motor's union will resume partial strikes from Aug. 12 after summer break, escalating stoppages to as long as six hours per shift on Aug. 14 and 18.
- If all planned walkouts go ahead, this week's strikes would add 40 hours of lost production time and bring cumulative disruption from this year's wage talks to about 100 hours.
- Hyundai Motor estimated July's earlier partial strikes caused production losses of more than 42,000 vehicles, while domestic output fell 22 percent from the previous month.
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