Despite an end to the month-long strike at Hyundai Motor three weeks ago, prolonged labour disputes over wages or layoffs at other car makers are expected to inflate losses.
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According to the Korea Herald, Kia Motors and its unionised workers ended their 14th round of negotiations last week without much result – the talks are likely to be drawn out as nothing has been agreed on yet.
The Kia labour union continued partial strikes which started on 18 July, refusing to work for four hours day and night. It plans to ramp up the struggle by organising a march of union members on Saturday.
A 64-hour partial strike between 18 July and 14 August is estimated to have resulted in a production loss of 15,300 vehicles worth 230 billion won, the car maker told the paper.
“Our annual labor agreements usually followed that of (affiliate) Hyundai Motor’s,” a Kia official told the Korea Herald. “But the atmosphere is quite different this year. The talks are unlikely to be resolved soon as both parties are reluctant to compromise.”
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By GlobalDataThe situation is worse at Ssangyong Motor where union workers have entered an all-out strike protesting against the company’s major layoff plan.
The nation’s fourth-largest car maker has not even begun annual wage talks after workers staged a month-long partial strike from 14 July. Ssangyong’s workers stopped producing or delivering cars entirely from 11 August when the automaker’s board approved the appointment of Phillip Murtaugh as one of its chief executives.
The labour union has claimed that major shareholder Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp. put Murtaugh, a restructuring expert, at the helm of Ssangyong to execute mass layoffs. It is also opposing technology leaks to the Chinese carmaker. SAIC, an auto conglomerate owned by the Chinese government which controls 51% of Ssangyong.
On 11 August, Ssangyong reported to the Ministry of Labour 11 a restructuring plan to cut 554 jobs. The labour union in turn filed a complaint to the prosecution against nine board directors including former co-CEO Jiang Zhiwei for malpractice and breach of trust.
“The production loss from partial strikes as of 10 August amounts to 7,790 vehicles,” a Ssangyong official told the paper. “We cannot see an inch ahead in this confrontation.”
Murtaugh told reporters in Shanghai late last month that he would discuss various restructuring plans with the union such as advancing the retirement age from the current 58.
In April, Ssangyong cut 10% of salaries for the entire staff and froze managers’ wages. The car maker posted net losses of 103.3bn won last year and 23.3bn won in the first quarter of this year.
At third largest GM Daewoo Auto & Technology, union workers narrowly rejected a collective agreement with the company late last month. They returned to the negotiation table on 14 August after the week-long summer break but it is likely to take long before they reach an accord on the level of a wage hike, the Korea Herald noted.
