Hyundai Motor Union secures right to strike with approval rate of almost 90%

The Hyundai Motor union has voted with almost 90 percent of the vote to go on strike because of the stalled wage negotiations for 2024.

On June 25, the Hyundai Motor Labor Union announced that 41,461 (96.06 percent) of the 43,160 eligible voters had cast their votes and 38,829 members (89.97 percent) voted to walk out.

On the same day, the Central Labour Commission also decided to suspend mediation in this year’s collective bargaining negotiations because it considered the differences of opinion between employees and employers to be too great and the union had been granted the right to strike.

The union plans to hold a ceremony on June 27 to establish the Central Committee for Conflict Resolution and to discuss whether and when the strike should begin.

Hyundai Motor workers and management have reached agreements without striking for five consecutive years since 2019, through 2023. If the union goes on strike this year, it would be the first time since 2018, six years later.

Previously, the automaker offered a 101,000 won base salary increase, a 350 percent performance bonus plus 14.5 million won, a 100 percent quality improvement bonus and 20 company shares in the eighth round of negotiations on June 13 to recognize the automaker’s global sales of 100 million vehicles. However, the union rejected the proposal, saying it came away empty-handed.

The union demanded a 159,000 won increase in basic salary (excluding increases for years of service), a performance-related bonus of 30 percent of the previous year’s net profit, a 900 percent increase in bonuses, four hours of work on Fridays and an increase in the retirement age to 64, coupled with the age at which one receives state pension benefits.