Unionized Hyundai Motor Workers Reject Tentative Wage Deal
August 26 2016 - 11:05PM
Dow Jones News
By In-Soo Nam
SEOUL -- Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. rejected a
tentative wage deal agreed between their leaders and the management
-- a rare move that could signal more strikes and loss of
production at the largest auto maker in South Korea.
"Many of our members didn't want to accept the deal, which was
less generous than the previous year's package," union spokesman
Jung Chang-Yul said Saturday.
He said the workers will hold a meeting as early as Monday to
decide whether to resume strikes. This summer, partial strikes on
several days since July has led to lost production of more than
60,000 cars worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
It is the first time that Hyundai's unionized workers, currently
totaling 49,665, have rejected such an annual pay deal,
provisionally agreed, since 2008.
Both the company and union leaders said they would renegotiate
this year's wage package, without providing a time frame.
On Wednesday, union leaders had agreed to a company proposal,
representing smaller increases in basic pay, bonuses and incentives
than the previous year's package, citing worsening business
conditions.
Hyundai, the world's fifth-largest auto maker when combined with
Kia Motors Corp., has been hit by strikes in all but four years of
the union's nearly three-decade history, leading to lost
production. Any significant work stoppage this year, however, could
prove more damaging to Hyundai because it is already grappling with
flagging sales in its major markets.
The auto maker posted its 10th consecutive drop in quarterly
profit in the second quarter and warned of a tough second half,
dimming the outlook for achieving its full-year sales target.
Write to In-Soo Nam at In-Soo.Nam@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 26, 2016 22:50 ET (02:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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