Hyundai Motor Labor and Management Agree to Resume Negotiations After Half a Month

Decision to Resume Negotiations at the Bargaining Committee on the 13th... Strike Averted

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Hyundai Motor Company's labor and management have returned to the negotiation table about half a month after the breakdown of this year's wage and collective bargaining talks.

On the 13th, the Hyundai Motor Union held a Central Dispute Countermeasure Committee meeting and, after discussing the official letter from management requesting the resumption of negotiations, announced that they had decided to resume talks. This comes about half a month after the union declared a 'breakdown in negotiations' on the 30th of last month.

Previously, when the Hyundai Motor Union and management could not narrow their differences in the wage and collective bargaining negotiations, the union declared the breakdown of talks at the end of last month and began preparations for a strike. On the 7th, a strike vote was held among all union members, passing with a 73.8% approval rate, and the day before, the Central Labor Relations Commission issued a decision to suspend labor dispute mediation, securing the union's legal right to strike.

As the strike threat escalated, Hyundai Motor CEO Ha Eon-tae met with Union Chairman Lee Sang-soo on the 9th to request the resumption of negotiations, and on the same day, sent an official letter requesting the restart of talks. In response, the union decided to resume negotiations after going through the negotiation committee and the dispute countermeasure committee.

For now, both labor and management are aiming to reach an agreement on wage and collective bargaining before this summer's vacation, so there is a possibility of a dramatic agreement during the negotiation process. However, given the significant differences between the two sides, there are also considerable expectations that the negotiations will not proceed smoothly. The union is demanding a basic wage increase of 99,000 won and a performance bonus of 30% of net profit, while management has proposed a basic wage increase of 50,000 won, a performance bonus of 100% plus 3 million won, and a quality improvement incentive of 2 million won. The industrial transition agreement and retirement age extension (to 64 years old) are also among the contentious issues.

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