Unionized Hyundai Motor Workers Reject Tentative Wage Deal

By In-Soo Nam 

SEOUL -- Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. rejected a tentative wage deal agreed between their leaders and the management -- a rare move that could signal more strikes and loss of production at the largest auto maker in South Korea.

"Many of our members didn't want to accept the deal, which was less generous than the previous year's package," union spokesman Jung Chang-Yul said Saturday.

He said the workers will hold a meeting as early as Monday to decide whether to resume strikes. This summer, partial strikes on several days since July has led to lost production of more than 60,000 cars worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

It is the first time that Hyundai's unionized workers, currently totaling 49,665, have rejected such an annual pay deal, provisionally agreed, since 2008.

Both the company and union leaders said they would renegotiate this year's wage package, without providing a time frame.

On Wednesday, union leaders had agreed to a company proposal, representing smaller increases in basic pay, bonuses and incentives than the previous year's package, citing worsening business conditions.

Hyundai, the world's fifth-largest auto maker when combined with Kia Motors Corp., has been hit by strikes in all but four years of the union's nearly three-decade history, leading to lost production. Any significant work stoppage this year, however, could prove more damaging to Hyundai because it is already grappling with flagging sales in its major markets.

The auto maker posted its 10th consecutive drop in quarterly profit in the second quarter and warned of a tough second half, dimming the outlook for achieving its full-year sales target.

Write to In-Soo Nam at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 26, 2016 22:50 ET (02:50 GMT)

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