"Kia Motors Union Declares Breakdown of Collective Bargaining, Demands Lifetime Car Price Discounts"

Disagreement Over New Car Purchase Discounts for Retired Employees
Partial Strike Scheduled for 13-14
Union "Won't Rule Out Full Strike"

Kia Motors '2023 Sportage'. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Kia Motors labor union has decided to carry out a partial strike after failing to narrow differences with management in the 13th round of main negotiations.

On the 11th, the union held a dispute countermeasure committee meeting and resolved to conduct a partial strike. Previously, the union engaged in main collective bargaining negotiations with management from the 5th to the 7th, but the talks broke down. Accordingly, the union will initiate a partial strike by reducing working hours by 2 hours on the 13th and 4 hours on the 14th. They also decided to refuse production overtime work.

Since Kia Motors was acquired by Hyundai Motor Group in 1998, the labor and management had agreed to negotiations without disputes for two consecutive years last year for the first time, but due to the dispute committee's decision this time, a strike has become inevitable this year.

Earlier, in September, labor and management reached a tentative agreement on wage negotiations that included a base salary increase of 98,000 KRW (including seniority increments) and a performance bonus of 200% plus 4 million KRW, but the collective agreement was rejected as it did not receive majority approval from the union members.

In the collective bargaining, the main point of contention was how to adjust the duration and discount rate of the vehicle purchase discount benefit provided to employees who retired after working for more than 25 years. Originally, this system offered a lifelong 30% discount on new cars every two years, but management proposed lowering the benefit age limit to 75 years old in this year's wage and collective agreement negotiations.

On the 7th, management's third additional proposal included starting electric vehicle discounts from 2026, as well as increases in vacation pay and expansion of housing support funds, but the union rejected these. The union stated that they have no choice but to risk a full strike struggle.

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