Union workers at Hyundai Motor Co, on Tuesday voted to strike after wage talks broke down, deepening labour tensions in the country ahead of a general strike planned for next week.
According to Reuters, the union, representing more than 80% or 41,515 employees of Hyundai’s workforce, is demanding a 10% rise in basic pay and performance bonuses equivalent to 30% of the company’s net profit.
It also reportedly said there should be no discrimination against part-time workers over pay and benefits, but the management rejected the demands.
“The vote passed with 69.66% support,” a spokesman for the union, Chang Gyu-ho, told Reuters. “We will decide tomorrow on when to start a strike and whether it will be full-time or partial.”
Reuters noted that South Korea traditionally sees a rise in union action in the summer – the country’s second-largest umbrella labour group, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, has decided to launch a general strike on June 29.
The confederation, to which Hyundai Motor belongs, reportedly is urging fuller implementation of a five-day work week and better terms for contract workers.
“Walkout is the last choice to push the management to meet our demands,” Hyundai’s union said in the statement, according to the report.
Any major labor unrest would be a big headache for the government as the economy struggles in the face of depressed consumer spending stemming from a soured credit card boom, Reuters noted.
