Among These... Car Union Raising Strike Flags

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Kia Motors labor union has begun a vote among its members for a strike. Amid ongoing crises such as domestic demand slumps and export cliffs becoming apparent due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), concerns are growing as automotive unions are consecutively raising the banner for strikes.

According to industry sources on the 3rd, the Kia Motors union is conducting a strike vote among all its members today. The vote, which starts at 11 a.m., will end at 8:20 p.m., and the results are expected to be announced by the evening.

The Kia Motors union applied for dispute mediation to the Central Labor Relations Commission on the 26th of last month and is proceeding with strike preparations. Regardless of the vote outcome, the commission is expected to decide on whether to suspend mediation by the 4th at the latest.

Kia Motors management and union have held nine rounds of main negotiations on wages and collective agreements recently but have failed to reach any significant results due to large differences in their positions. The union is demanding a base pay increase of 120,304 KRW and performance bonuses amounting to 30% of last year’s operating profit. They are also requesting the in-house establishment of electric vehicle and hydrogen vehicle module parts factories, a guarantee of 30 minutes of overtime, the introduction of a labor director system, and an expansion of the scope of ordinary wages. Additionally, they strongly oppose the management’s reflection of quality costs in the trillion-won range in the third-quarter results and are demanding the resignation of the board of directors.

Except for 2011, when no strike vote was held, the Kia Motors union has concluded in favor of strikes every year from 2012 to 2019. The approval rate was lowest at 67.3% in 2012 and highest at 76.8% in 2016. Last year, it was 73.6%.

The industry is paying close attention to the Kia Motors union’s decision. Korea GM has already entered a partial strike once, and Renault Samsung Motors has secured the right to strike, making a strike possible.

The strike decision by the Kia Motors union is expected to affect the Hyundai-Kia Motors Group as well. Except for Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Mobis, which have completed negotiations, other affiliate unions are proceeding with strike procedures.

Hyundai Steel submitted a request for mediation to the Central Labor Relations Commission after an extraordinary delegates meeting on the 30th of last month. The management and union have held eight rounds of negotiations since September this year but have not reached a conclusion. The union will conduct a strike vote among all members from the 9th to the 11th.

Hyundai Rotem’s strike vote passed with 92.3% approval on the 22nd of last month. The Hyundai Wia union also passed a strike vote with 90.33% approval during the vote held from the 29th to the 30th of last month.

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