Hyundai Motor Union Plans Next Week's Partial Strikes Over Wages

According to Yonhap, Hyundai Motor Co.'s labor union said Friday it will extend partial strikes next week as workers press for higher wages, a move that could disrupt production at South Korea's largest automaker. The union said employees on day and night shifts already staged four-hour walkouts from Monday through Wednesday this week after wage talks stalled, and it plans another round of four-hour strikes from Wednesday to next Friday, which would be its third walkout this year. The two sides have held 15 rounds of negotiations without narrowing their differences. The 40,000-member union is seeking a 149,600-won increase in monthly base pay and a performance bonus equal to 30% of last year's net profit, while Hyundai Motor, the maker of Sonata sedans and Palisade sport utility vehicles, has offered an 80,000-won raise, a bonus equivalent to 350% of monthly salary plus 10 million won and 15 shares of company stock. Hyundai Motor posted net profit of 10.36 trillion won ($7.07 billion) last year.