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S.Korea's largest auto workers vote for strike on new rules

SEOUL, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Unionised workers at South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co voted on Friday to join a strike threatened by an umbrella union group to protest against the government's five-day-workweek proposal, a Hyundai spokesman said.

About 78 percent of Hyundai's 34,000 union members cast ballots for the strike plan by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), Lim Byung-hyuk, the spokesman, told Reuters.

The KCTU has threatened a general strike in opposition to government plants to shorten the work week to 40 hours from 44 next year, saying it is designed to reduce holidays and wages.

"It's not clear yet whether and when KCTU would actually go on a strike," Lim said. "But Hyundai workers are showing their intention to join, if that happened."

The strike would be a blow as the company already reported a weaker-than-expected net profit of 306.8 billion won ($251.1 million) for the second quarter, down 8.3 percent from a year earlier due to provisioning for warranties and tough new European Union environmental regulations.

Before the strike vote, Hyundai shares rose 2.2 percent to close at 31,850 won, outperforming a broader market up 0.14 percent. ($1=1221.9 Won)