Hyundai Motor's assembly line in Ulsan halted over staffing dispute

SEOUL, November 3 (AJP) - One of two production lines at Hyundai Motor's plant in Ulsan was halted Monday after unionized workers blocked a Genesis G80 hybrid test vehicle from entering the line amid a dispute over staffing for new models.

The stoppage began at around 9 a.m. at the plant's Genesis assembly unit as Hyundai sought to place the test vehicle on the line ahead of future mass production.

Company managers urged workers to resume production, but the line remained idle. Hyundai notified about 800 workers in the assembly unit at 10:05 a.m. that it would apply a no-work, no-pay policy to the stoppage.

The dispute centers on negotiations over man-hours or the amount of labor and staffing required for vehicle production.
  Hyundai has been seeking an agreement with workers over production arrangements for the G80 hybrid and a refreshed G90. Changes to vehicle models can alter production processes, workloads and the number of workers assigned to a line.

The automaker maintains that local union representatives have prevented negotiations from proceeding normally. Union representatives, meanwhile, have raised concerns that staffing could be reduced after the new models are introduced.

The affected line remained shut into Monday evening as union representatives met to discuss whether to resume production but failed to reach a conclusion.

Another production line at the plant continued operating.

The G80 hybrid remains in the pre-production testing stage. Genesis launched the GV80 hybrid, its first hybrid model, in October.

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