Kia Motors workers have voted to approve a new wage agreement, ending to a series of strikes that took place amid negotiations.
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Citing the automaker’s spokesman Michael Choo, the Associated Press (AP) said union workers approved a 5.2% increase in basic pay for this year, a special bonus equivalent to two months’ salary and a lump sum payment of 1m won ($US1,052).
Fifty-eight per cent of 27,163 union members that voted favoured the deal, Choo told AP.
The news agency noted that Kia workers had staged partial strikes between 28 June and 20 July seeking an 8.9% annual increase in basic pay.
Last Monday, the union held a four-hour strike after rejecting the company’s offer of a 5.2% pay rise, a special bonus equivalent to 1.5 months’ pay and the 1m won lump sum payment.
The two sides reached a tentative agreement on Tuesday, which was subject to the vote, the Associated Press added.
The report noted that labour unions at affiliate Kia and parent company Hyundai Motor are known for militancy – Hyundai’s union has struck every year but one since it was founded in 1987.
