[Exclusive] Hyundai Mobis Lamp Subsidiary Temporarily Calls Off Strike... "Agreement Reached on Employment Retention and Consolation Payments"

Negotiations Begin Between Gimcheon Plant and Management
Management Proposes 50 Million Won Consolation Payment and Five Years of Bonuses
Protest Scheduled in Seoul on the 13th May Impact Outcome

Unitus (Gimcheon Plant), the lamp business subsidiary of Hyundai Mobis, has withdrawn its full-scale strike. With disruptions in vehicle production due to the lamp plant strike, attention is focused on whether the supply chain will now be able to recover.

According to industry sources on May 11, the Unitus labor union has withdrawn its instructions for an indefinite full-scale strike, as well as its refusal to work overtime and on special shifts, as negotiations with management began on this day.

Lamp production sites such as Unitus and Hyundai IHL had been on a full-scale strike since the morning of April 27, citing the lack of consultation with the labor union during Hyundai Mobis’s lamp business divestiture process.

Due to this strike, parts supply disruptions affected some vehicle assembly plants, including Hyundai Motor and Kia, causing operational delays at these factories.

In January, Hyundai Mobis signed a memorandum of understanding with the French parts company OP Mobility for the sale of its lamp business unit. The divestiture is part of Hyundai Mobis’s business structure reorganization plan and is scheduled to be completed within the first half of this year.

Having called off the strike and returned to the negotiating table, the Unitus union plans to decide the direction of its future actions based on management’s proposals. It has been confirmed that, on this day, the management proposed employment succession, maintenance of welfare benefits, and the payment of consolation money in connection with the sale. The consolation money is set at the sum of the total bonuses distributed from 2021 to last year, plus an additional 50 million won.

Hyundai IHL has also presented the union with measures to ensure job security and maintain working conditions, in an effort to appease employees.

OP Mobility has likewise expressed its commitment to maintaining employment at both Hyundai IHL and Unitus, as well as to ensuring the normal operation of the plants.

With Unitus calling off its strike and further negotiations on employment retention ongoing at Hyundai IHL, there is analysis within the industry that lamp supply may stabilize going forward.

An industry official stated, "Unitus is still in the negotiation process, and nothing has been finalized yet," adding, "Since the Hyundai Mobis union, including the lamp division, is scheduled to stage a protest in front of the Seoul headquarters on May 13, it remains to be seen how the situation will unfold."