Published : Jan. 10, 2018 - 21:05
Hyundai Motor Co.'s union and management reached a second tentative wage deal, company and union officials said Wednesday, a move that could conclude the long-drawn-out negotiations.
The deal would raise workers' basic monthly wages by 58,000 won ($54) and provide bonuses worth 300 percent of basic pay plus 3.2 million won in extra compensation.
The deal was reached in a meeting at Hyundai's main plant in Ulsan, an industrial city located about 410 kilometers south of Seoul.
Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co.'s factory in Ulsan gather to stage a partial strike in December last year. (Yonhap)
The union said its 51,000-strong members are set to vote on Jan. 15 on whether to approve the deal.
The latest agreement came hours after unionized workers in the morning shift walked away from their production lines for six hours. Despite a second tentative wage deal, those on the evening shift also put down their tools at 5:40 p.m. for another six hours, according to the company.
In December, the carmaker and its union reached a first tentative wage deal that would raise workers' basic monthly wages by 58,000 won and provide bonuses worth 300 percent of basic pay plus 3 million won in extra compensation.
But the union members later voted down the deal. Workers at South Korea's largest carmaker began partial strikes last Thursday to press for higher salaries and bonuses.
Hyundai workers have staged strikes 24 times in recent months that prevented Hyundai from producing 84,300 cars, costing the carmaker 1.78 trillion won in lost production, according to the company.
Labor strikes have plagued the country's biggest carmaker for decades. Its workers have walked out every year since 1986 except for in 1994, 2009, 2010 and 2011. (Yonhap)