Survival Crisis Halts 'Solo Labor Row'... Hyundai Motor Labor and Management in the Same Boat

Simplifying Processes with One-Kid System
Joining Forces Amid Eco-Friendly Industrial Restructuring and Economic Slowdown

Labor Union Prioritizes Consensus on Natural Attrition and Reassignment Over Wage Increases
Active Efforts to Improve New Car Quality Controversy

[Asia Economy reporters Su-yeon Woo and Ji-hee Kim] The introduction of the 'One-Kit' production method proposed by Hyundai Motor Company for survival in the future car era was made possible above all by the consent of the labor union. The transition to a new production method presupposes a reduction in employment, but the significance lies in the fact that labor and management agreed on the larger proposition of 'change for survival.'

If the One-Kit production method is introduced at Hyundai Motor's Ulsan Plant 3, some employees will also undergo rotational assignments. The industry attaches significance to the fact that the union, which has prioritized annual base salary increases and job security, has agreed to accept the new production method where rotational assignments are inevitable.

This change in Hyundai Motor's labor union appears to reflect a sense of crisis that only job groups that quickly adapt to the rapidly shifting trend toward eco-friendly vehicles in the automotive market can survive. Global automakers have already announced large-scale restructuring as they reorganize into eco-friendly vehicle systems centered on electric vehicles.

In this situation, it is reported that opinions within Hyundai Motor's labor union have converged on the idea that quickly adapting to the paradigm shift is the way to prevent large-scale workforce reductions. Recently, Hyundai Motor union members held a test drive event to directly experience vehicles from Tesla, a global leader in electric vehicles, and to examine the technological level of competitors. The Hyundai Motor union, once known as a symbol of a militant labor union, is now being evaluated as beginning to consider long-term 'food source seeking' looking far into the future rather than short-term 'protecting their own interests.'

In the past, Hyundai Motor's labor union found rotational assignments due to production line changes burdensome. This was because a high proportion of senior union members nearing retirement preferred familiar work methods over change. However, now that the atmosphere within the union has spread that survival is difficult without adapting to new products and work methods, there is also a glimpse of active retraining possibilities.

Previously, Hyundai Motor's labor-management employment advisory committee analyzed that about 20% of Hyundai Motor's manufacturing workforce would inevitably be reduced by 2025 due to changes in automobile production technology. Accordingly, both labor and management agreed on the necessity of workforce reduction, reassignment, and retraining, and agreed to adjust manpower through natural attrition as much as possible. Furthermore, when quality controversies arose recently over new models such as the Genesis GV80, the union took the lead in mentioning proactive production system improvements to manage quality risks. Due to the significant drop in overseas plant operating rates caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of Hyundai Motor's domestic plants has recently been highlighted, and quality risks are directly linked to plant competitiveness and productivity.

Now, the industry's attention is focused on Hyundai Motor's labor-management wage and collective bargaining (wage and collective agreement) negotiations this year. At the temporary delegates' meeting of Hyundai Motor's labor union held on the 22nd, the union proposed maintaining the domestic plant production volume of 1.74 million units annually to guarantee total employment and bringing overseas plant volumes to domestic plants. Wage discussions are ongoing at the level of a base monthly salary increase of 120,304 KRW, aligned with the higher-level organization, the Metal Workers' Union.

Professor Ho-geun Lee of Daeduk College's Department of Automotive Engineering said, "With the paradigm shift in the automotive industry, employment insecurity is increasing four to five years from now, and the union has started to devise a long-term survival strategy again. At the same time, since the automotive market has sharply deteriorated this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the union is expected to prioritize employment maintenance as the top goal in this year's wage and collective bargaining negotiations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.