Hyundai Workers Resume Partial Strike as Talks Stall

Hyundai workers at all six car-assembly plants in Korea put down their tools for six hours of each 8-hour shift Friday after talks between union and management negotiators remained at an impasse.

No meetings were held Friday and none are scheduled for the weekend, a Hyundai spokesman says.

Sources with the Hyundai Div. of the Korean Metal Workers Union sources say strike action likely will continue next week under the direction of hardliner Hyundai branch President Park Yoo-ki.

It is unclear if the Korean government will issue its proposed order requiring the union to immediately end its strike action.

Analysts pegged Hyundai’s production loss as of Thursday at more than 126,000 vehicles valued at 2.8 trillion won ($2.5 billion). Losses by 380 Hyundai suppliers, many of them small and medium-size enterprises, total an estimated 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion).

The Hyundai KMWU has formed a special group to determine what action should be taken if Korea’s labor minister, Lee Ki-kweon, makes good on his threat to issue an order forcing the workers to immediately end the strike action.

If issued, the order would prevent the workers from walking out for a period of 30 days. The order can be issued if the minister and fellow cabinet ministers determine a strike is putting the nation’s economy at risk.

Union leader Park told workers Thursday the KMWU would not give in on its demand for higher wages, no matter what action the government might take.

Any strike action taken after issuance of a mediation order would be illegal and workers would not be paid under the “no work, no pay” provision of Korean labor law. Additionally, union officials ordering continuation of the strike would be subject to arrest for obstruction of business operations.

But, Park says: “We will continue our fight and carry through our demands for higher wages until the very end. We will oppose the government action at all costs.”

Hyundai’s net income has fallen for 10 consecutive quarters, including the second quarter ending in June. Analysts believe third-quarter results to be announced in a few days will also show a decline.

In an editorial commenting on a World Economic Forum report critical of Korea’s competiveness and low labor-efficiency index, the left-leaning Korea Times stated:

“Some greedy unions should take a big share of the blame for this. The anachronistic culture of Korea's labor movement is eating away at the country's competitiveness.

“Prolonged strikes by unions of some of Korea’s largest companies, such as Hyundai Motor, is one of the reasons for the country’s low ranking in labor market efficiency.  A greedy union that habitually goes on strike hurts the company and, in the case of key industries such as automobiles, the economy.”