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Workers at S.Korean Kia Motors stage partial strike

SEOUL, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Workers at South Korea's second-largest auto maker, Kia Motors Corp , staged a partial strike on Wednesday, demanding the management reinstate a sacked union leader, a company spokesman said.

Workers belonging to the 23,500-strong union went on an eight-hour strike on Wednesday and will continue the half-day stoppages every day until their demand is met, a union official told Reuters.

The strike came after the company fired a union leader who had ordered overtime workers to down tools for three hours on December 6 without prior consultations with union members and management.

"It was legitimate to sack the union member because he masterminded an illegal strike,' Lee Sang-keum, a Kia spokesman, said by telephone. "Management will try to talk with the union to end the strike as soon as possible."

A prolonged strike would lead to order cancellations and hurt earnings at Kia, which produces about 3,000 cars a day, including the luxury Opirus sedan and Sorento sport utility vehicle.

More than 10 days of half-day stoppages could affect exports, another company official said.

Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co , the country's largest auto maker, is aiming to sell 1.16 million vehicles worth 16.67 trillion won ($14 billion) in 2004 compared with sales of 912,000 units worth 13.34 trillion won in 2003.

Shares of Kia rose 0.86 percent to 11,750 won, exceeding a 0.56 percent gain in the benchmark index .