The Hyundai Motor Company union secured the legal right to strike regarding this year's wage and collective bargaining (wage negotiation) discussions.

The Hyundai Motor Company union reported that on the 25th, a vote on potential labor actions was conducted among all 42,180 union members, with 86.2% in favor. The voter turnout was recorded at 94.75%. The Central Labor Relations Commission also decided to cease mediation between Hyundai Motor Company and the union on the same day.

Moon Yong-mun, the head of the Metal Workers' Union of Hyundai Motor (second from the left in the front row), and union officials are holding a press conference at the union office within the Hyundai Motor Ulsan plant on the 18th, announcing their position regarding the breakdown of this year's wage and collective negotiations while shouting slogans. /Courtesy of News1

The union plans to hold an inauguration ceremony for the Central Countermeasures Committee on the 28th to discuss whether to conduct a strike and the schedule.

The Hyundai Motor Company union completed negotiations without a strike for six years from 2019 to last year. However, this year, they have been unable to narrow differences with the company regarding the size of performance bonuses and the extension of the retirement age. The management and union held an initial meeting on wage and collective bargaining (wage negotiation) on June 18 and conducted negotiations for two months, but they could not reach an agreement, and the union declared the breakdown of the negotiations after completing the 17th negotiation on the 13th of this month.

The union is demanding ▲an increase in base salary of 141,300 won (excluding grade increase) ▲payment of 30% of last year's net profit as performance bonuses ▲payment of 20 million won per member as a regular wage bonus ▲increase or establishment of allowances by job category and duty. It also included proposals to extend the current retirement age of 60 to 64 and adopt a 4.5-day workweek.

On the other hand, the management has countered the union's demands, citing a decrease in operating profit due to the imposition of tariffs on imported cars in the United States.

A source from the finished automobile industry said, "If production suffers due to the tariffs in the U.S. and sluggish electric vehicle sales, the impact on the performance will be significant," and added, "The management may soon request a resumption of negotiations and present a new proposal."

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