Hyundai Workers Approve Strike Action

Worker ire is high at Hyundai Motor’s Korean plants, as attested to by 86% of the 43,700 Korean Metal Workers Union members who approved strike action in voting July 13.

The 37,358 workers who voted to strike constitute 77% of Hyundai’s entire 48,806 member unionized work force in Korea. The union released details of the strike today.

While the strike action requires approval of the National Labor Relations Commission, it is expected the inordinately high number of union members voting to strike will make the approval automatic.

The Hyundai Branch of the KMWU issued a statement on its website indicating it will hold partial strikes for a 4-day period beginning July 19.

Workers are angered Hyundai is asking for wage reductions and freezes for older employees to change the current pay structure that provides annual increases based on seniority. That results in older workers with the most seniority, seen as among the least productive, earning the highest wages.

Hyundai wants to reduce pay 10% for workers aged 58 and 59 and freeze pay for workers who are at least 60 years old, according to the union.

The union’s demands are for a 7.2%-per-month wage increase, which averages 152,050 won ($134) in base pay, and bonuses equal to 30% of Hyundai’s 2015 net income.

The union says the strike will be carried out in conjunction with a walkout by the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions against the shipbuilding arm, Hyundai Heavy Industries, located in the massive industrial complex at Ulsan, South Korea.

The vast majority of Hyundai’s unionized workers are employed in five plants in the Ulsan complex.

HHI is not an affiliate of Hyundai Motor, but the dual strikes will put incredible economic pressure on the Ulsan area, analysts say.

During the Hyundai strike, the KCTU also will hold a national strike July 20 to protest government plans to revamp Korea’s wage and labor structure.

Just weeks ago, KCTU President Han Sang-gyun was sentenced to five years in prison for holding a similar national walkout and other unapproved strikes in 2015. He was charged with obstruction that caused destruction of public and private property.