Hyundai Motor union rejects wage deal, demanding for bigger hikes

[THE INVESTOR] Members of the Hyundai Motor union have voted down a tentative wage-hike agreement, forcing a renegotiation, according to the union on Aug.27.

Out of 45,777 unionized members who participated in the Aug.26 vote, 78 percent were against the accord, it said. This is the first time since 2008 that the members rejected the provisionally agreed annual pay deal.
 

Earlier this week, the company management and union leaders struck a deal to raise the monthly base pay of an employee by 58,000 won (US$52). Each worker will also receive 350 percent of the base monthly payment as bonus and an additional 3.3 million won as performance incentives.

The figures compare the 2015 deal, when monthly salary went up by 85,000 won along with a 400 percent bonus and an additional 4.2 million won in incentives.

The Hyundai management says smaller pay hikes are inevitable due to unfavorable business conditions.

“Operating profits have decreased each year since recording 8.44 trillion won in 2012. In the first half of this year, operating profits dropped 7 percent to 3.1 trillion won, compared to the same period last year,” a company official said.

In return for the smaller pay rise this year, the management retracted plans for a wage peak system to start cutting payments for workers as they near retirement.

The unionized workers of Hyundai Motor have staged 14 rounds of partial walkouts since the wage talks began in July. Their collective action has affected the production of 65,500 cars, worth 1.4 trillion won, according to Hyundai.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)





























김지현기자@heraldcorp.com