Hyundai Motor to meet union on Monday after boycott over wage
The union said it had staged a partial strike on 22 August as a 'warning' and will refuse extra shifts in the future
Seoul: Hyundai Motor Co.’s management will meet with the union on Monday to resolve differences over wage demands after workers boycotted extra weekend shifts for a second day on Sunday.
The management plans to unveil its proposals to workers during two days of meetings starting on Monday, Hwang Ki Tae, the spokesman for the union, said by phone on Sunday. Workers are demanding that bonuses be counted as part of their base wages.
“The union will decide what action it will take next, following the talks," Hwang said. Hyundai Motor doesn’t have “any comments" on what the company is offering to its workers on wages, it said on Sunday in an e-mailed response to a Bloomberg News query.
While workers at South Korea’s biggest carmaker will do their regular eight-hour shifts, they have decided not to take on any additional duties during the wage talks, Hwang said. Saturday’s strike was estimated to cut sales by 70 billion won ($69 million), Yonhap News reported, citing an unidentified company official.
The walkout threatens to cut output at a time when a strengthening won erodes profits from overseas for the automaker. The work action is likely to have a “negative impact on investor sentiment," Lee Jin Woo, a Seoul-based fund manager at KTB Asset Management Co., which oversees about $7.9 billion, said on Saturday.
The union said it had staged a partial strike on 22 August as a “warning" and will refuse extra shifts in the future, according to a posting on its website.
South Korea’s won has strengthened 3.2% against the dollar this year, among the biggest gainers of 11 Asian currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Hyundai Motor’s shares have dropped 5.1% in 2014. Bloomberg
Rose Kim contributed to this story.
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