Hyundai Motor’s South Korean labor union announced a tentative agreement with company management that includes a 100,000‑won (about $72) monthly base‑salary increase, performance bonuses and additional welfare points. The deal also commits the automaker to hire 500 new technical workers each year through 2028.
Strike pressure led to settlement
The agreement follows the union’s first full‑scale strike in ten years, which began on Friday after wage negotiations stalled. Workers demanded a higher retirement age, stronger job protections against artificial intelligence and automation, and a pledge that the company set aside 30% of net income for bonuses.
Union external‑relations head Kim Jin‑wook told Reuters that the company’s increasing use of robots on the assembly line raised concerns about job security. “We already see lots of robots deployed in the factories,” he said, adding that the union is pressing management to increase new hires as the company looks to reduce headcounts.
Impact on production
Without a deal, production at Hyundai’s largest plant in Ulsan – which produces roughly a quarter of the automaker’s global output – would have been halted. The plant’s annual capacity is about 1.5 million vehicles.
Hyundai Motor did not respond to a Reuters request for comment outside regular business hours.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
