[Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea's leading carmaker Hyundai Motor saw a complete stop in production Monday due to a full strike for the first time in 12 years that followed a series of partial walkouts by unionized workers for weeks.
After a full strike on Monday, union leaders vowed to continue partial walkouts. The last full strike was reported in 2004. Partial walkouts from July 19 have already cost 2.23 trillion won (2.02 billion US dollars) in lost production of 101,400 vehicles. Hyundai said it would lose some 160 billion won from Monday's strike.
A provisional wage agreement was reached on August 24 after the company agreed to a base monthly pay increase of 58,000 won, a bonus of 350 percent and 3.3 million won in performance incentives. But the compromise was rejected in a vote by unionists.
There have been differences over a peak wage system freezing the wages of workers aged 59 years old and lowers that of 60-year-old workers by 10 percent. The company has proposed cutting the wages of employees aged 59 and 60 years old by 10 percent while the union insists on raising the retirement age.
Hyundai Motor's union is notorious for its militant activity. For decades, strikes have been an annual event, prompting the company to increase production overseas.
At talks with government officials in August, Hyundai Motor President Chung Jin-haeng complained of powerful labor unions, asking the government to allow the use of "agency workers" during strikes.
The Hyundai Motor group, including Kia Motors, is the world's fifth-largest carmaker. Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo has been hopeful for record sales in Europe this year.
In the first eight months, the combined market share of Hyundai Motor and Kia in Europe reached 6.2 percent, driven by robust sales of recreational vehicles. But Hyundai Motor's overall August shipment fell 3.1 percent on-year to 358,447 units.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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