The Hyundai Motor labor union held an extraordinary delegate meeting and resolved to engage in labor disputes, raising observations that a strike is effectively in its countdown phase. In the past, union strikes were mainly led by production workers, but this year, it is reported that there is significant support for strikes among research members.
According to Hyundai Motor officials on the 20th, the union unanimously passed a bill for the occurrence of disputes at the 152nd extraordinary delegate meeting held at 2 p.m. at the Ulsan Hyundai Motor Cultural Center. As a result, the Central Labor Relations Commission decided to suspend mediation, and if a majority of union members approve the strike in the voting scheduled for the 25th, the union can enter a legal strike.
The Hyundai Motor union concluded negotiations without strikes for six years from 2019 to last year. However, this year, it has been unable to narrow the gap with management over issues such as the scale of performance bonuses and the extension of retirement age. The labor and management held a preliminary meeting on wages and collective bargaining on June 18 and conducted negotiations for two months, but they were unable to reach an agreement, and the union declared a breakdown of negotiations after the 17th meeting on the 13th of this month.
The union is demanding ▲ an increase of 141,300 won in base salary (excluding the seniority increase) ▲ payment of 30% of last year's net profit as performance bonuses ▲ payment of 20 million won per member as regular wage compensation ▲ an increase or establishment of allowances based on job positions and duties, among other requests. It has also included demands to extend the retirement age from the current 60 to 64 years and to introduce a 4.5-day workweek.
In response, management has maintained that it is difficult to accept the union's demands due to decreased operating profit from the U.S. tariff on imported vehicles.
Even if a majority of union members vote in favor of the strike, it does not necessarily lead to an actual strike. In the voting conducted during last year's wage negotiations, the support rate for the strike among participating members reached 93.7%, but labor and management ultimately settled the negotiations without disputes. This year, due to anticipated poor performance from the U.S. tariff on imported cars, there is an atmosphere making it burdensome for the union to proceed with a strike.
However, some observers note that dissatisfaction among union members regarding the company's distribution of performance has increased, indicating a high possibility of a strike for the first time in seven years. In particular, research members working at the Namyang Research Institute have reportedly expressed dissatisfaction, claiming that performance distribution is inadequate compared to large corporations like SK hynix, which have made substantial profits in recent years.
According to group officials, Hyundai Motor has judged that the union is likely to disrupt production starting in September if they enter a strike, and has been adjusting overtime and special work hours to expand production of popular models.
There have been instances in the past where support for strikes among researchers within the Hyundai Motor union was higher. During the strike vote held during negotiations last year, 71.8% of the registered members voted in favor of the strike, with the support rate among the Namyang Committee, to which researchers belong, reaching 75.7%.
A Hyundai Motor official noted, "Since the beginning of this year, many employees have expressed dissatisfaction as the amounts of performance bonuses from some IT corporations such as SK hynix have been disclosed in various employee communities, including blinds." He added, "There are many opinions that we need to secure as much compensation as possible in this year's collective bargaining agreement due to the possibility of continued poor performance from the U.S. tariffs."