Hyundai’s Union Agreed On A Wage Increase

The union of Hyundai Motor workers has reached a temporary agreement with the management on increasing the basic monthly salary by 100,000 won, or about 72 euros, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reports, citing Reuters.

The deal comes days after Hyundai workers staged their first full strike in a decade. The strike followed a stalemate in wage negotiations, with the union demanding a higher retirement age and job protection from the effects of artificial intelligence and automation, in addition to salary increases.

According to Yonhap’s information, the temporary agreement, in addition to the increase in the base salary, also includes a bonus linked to business results and additional points for employee benefits. It is planned to hire 500 new technical workers from next year until 2028.

During the negotiations, the union demanded that the company set aside 30 percent of the net profit for employee bonuses and to guarantee job security. The increasing use of robots and artificial intelligence in production was highlighted as one of the main problems.

“We are already seeing a large number of robots in factories,” Kim Jin-wook, head of external relations at Hyundai’s union, told Reuters. He added that the union is asking for an increase in the number of new employees because it believes that the company is trying to reduce the number of workers.

At the same time, Hyundai Motor is developing humanoid robots, which further fuels the union’s concern about the future of certain jobs. Union leaders believe that automation could reduce the need for human labor in manufacturing plants.

The temporary deal also averted a possible shutdown of production at Hyundai’s largest plant in Ulsan. The plant has an annual capacity of about 1.5 million vehicles, which represents approximately a quarter of Hyundai’s total production.

Hyundai Motor did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. The deal still needs to go through the proper procedure within the union before it becomes final.

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