Kia Faces Potential Total Strike... Rising Tension Between Labor and Management

Union to Decide Future Policy Through Emergency Negotiation Committee on the 11th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The sense of an impending total strike at Kia is growing. The union is increasing pressure, stating that if the management does not present an appropriate alternative in response to the reduction of the lifetime employee ID card system, they will declare a total strike.

According to the automotive industry on the 11th, the Kia union plans to hold the 4th Central Dispute Countermeasure Committee meeting in the afternoon. The union intends to declare a total strike at this meeting if there is no change from management.

Previously, the labor and management resumed the 13th main negotiation session on the 7th but failed to reach an agreement. The union stated, "At the 13th main negotiation, we strongly demanded that management present a progressive proposal addressing the field's demands," but "management ignored the field's demands and instead provoked anger by presenting additional proposals that deceived the union and the negotiation committee."

On this day, management proposed a 3rd additional proposal including ▲increasing summer vacation pay from 300,000 KRW to 800,000 KRW ▲adding 650 condominium units ▲expanding housing support loan limits from 60 million KRW to 100 million KRW for home purchases and from 30 million KRW to 50 million KRW for jeonse (key money deposit). In particular, regarding electric vehicle purchases by retirees, management stated they would start from 2026 after comprehensively considering customer waiting demand, subsidy payment trends, and stabilization of electric vehicle supply. However, the union rejected this proposal.

Labor and management have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the ‘lifetime employee ID card system.’ This system is a policy where Kia offers employees who have worked for more than 25 years a 30% discount on new cars every two years.

The Kia union has already obtained the right to strike, so if the Dispute Countermeasure Committee resolves to strike on this day, they can immediately take action. On the 19th of last month, the Kia union passed a strike vote with an approval rate of 89.4%. Subsequently, on the 22nd, the Central Labor Relations Commission decided to suspend dispute mediation, granting the union a legal right to strike.

Industry analysts explain that the reason the union demands the discount system is due to the pyramid structure of the age distribution among employees within the company. As of last year, 18,874 employees aged 50 or older accounted for more than half of the total 34,014 employees at Kia in Korea. The average length of service for all employees is 22 years and 2 months. This means that most union members have fewer years left to work than they have already worked, making them particularly sensitive to post-retirement benefits.

Additionally, there are concerns that this labor-management negotiation could potentially cause labor-labor (노노) conflicts among Kia union members. This is because the benefits desired by senior union members nearing retirement differ from those wanted by relatively younger union members, raising concerns that younger union members might be disadvantaged.

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