Kia Motors' workers launched a series of strikes this week after the majority of the unionised workforce rejected the company's wage hike proposals last week.

Workers held a four hour strike on Wednesday, followed by an eight hour walk out on Thursday, increasing the pressure on the automaker's management to meet their basic wage and bonus demands.

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Last Friday around 56% of Kia Motors' 27,050 union workers rejected a tentative agreement reached between their representatives and company management on 10 December, which included raising workers' basic monthly wage by KRW40,000 (US$34), an annual bonus equivalent to 1.5 times monthly wages and an additional cash bonus of KRW3.2m ($2,750).

Union leaders said they would decide soon on further strike action if the company did not resume negotiations on Friday, as requested. 

Kia's global sales were down by 1.1% at 2,541,474 units in the first 11 months of 2019 from 2,571,001 units in the same period of last year.

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