Ahead of the Wage Negotiations, Hyundai Motor Union Prioritizes 'Quality Improvement'

by Woo Sooyoun

Published 24 Jun.2020 11:20(KST)

Hyundai Motor Labor and Management Conclude Labor-Management Council Ahead of Wage Negotiations
Quality and Employment Prioritized Amid Prolonged COVID-19 Management Crisis
Positive Shift from Prioritizing Existing Wages to Company’s Future

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Ahead of this year's wage and collective bargaining negotiations (wage and collective agreement negotiations), the Hyundai Motor Union is drawing attention by presenting quality improvement and employment stability as key issues. As the prolonged COVID-19 crisis has pushed the company into a management crisis, the Hyundai Motor Union leadership has shifted the focus of the negotiations from prioritizing existing wages to the company's future, including quality enhancement and future vehicle response, earning positive evaluations.

According to the automotive industry on the 24th, Hyundai Motor Company and the union discussed "quality improvement" as a key issue at the annual labor-management council ahead of the wage and collective agreement negotiations. The labor-management council is a meeting to determine the issues to be discussed by both parties before the main negotiations, serving as a preliminary round. While last year's meetings frequently featured keywords directly related to wages such as ordinary wages and minimum wages, this year’s discussions were mostly about survival competition, quality improvement, and employment stability.

At this council, both labor and management discussed measures such as establishing a jointly managed quality committee for quality improvement and promoting the introduction of "Smart Tag (RFID)" technology in production management. The Hyundai Motor Union emphasized at this meeting, "The attitude that union members only produce and the company is responsible for quality lowers our own competitiveness," adding, "The only way to prepare for the post-COVID era and survive in the global market is to improve quality."

This change in the union’s stance involves a complex calculation. Recently, quality issues with key models such as the Genesis GV80 recall and diesel engine vibration problems have continuously emerged, making company-wide quality improvement a prerequisite. The union is also under pressure regarding quality issues, having faced social criticism over Wi-Fi use inside the factory. Moreover, the rapidly deteriorating domestic economy due to COVID-19 adds to the union’s burden.

Instead, the union has decided to focus all efforts on employment stability while setting conditions for quality improvement in this year’s wage and collective agreement negotiations. The Hyundai Motor Union stated, "In the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution, we want to stake everything on quality based on the premise of employment stability for union members," emphasizing, "If the union breaks away from rigid thinking and sends a positive signal about quality, the issue of Hyundai Motor’s overseas plant reshoring can also become a reality."

Unlike the Hyundai Motor Union, which is seeking progressive consensus by accepting external opinions, the Kia Motors Union is still pursuing a confrontational path. The Kia Motors Union recently warned of strong struggles through a delegate meeting, stating that if employment stability measures for the PT (engine, transmission, materials) sector are not prepared, they will accept it as a step toward restructuring.