Hyundai agrees on wage deal for second strike-free year

Jul 22, 2010 |

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SEOUL, July 22, 2010: South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor said Thursday that its union and management had agreed a wage deal, marking its second strike-free year.

Hyundai said the deal reached overnight would be voted on Friday by 45,000 unionised workers.

Union leaders agreed a 79,000 won (65 dollar) increase in monthly basic pay for next year, a 300 percent bonus raise, and other incentives including the distribution of 30 shares to each worker.

The car firm's union had a history of militancy, going on strike almost every year since its establishment in 1987.

But 2009 was the company's first strike-free year in 15 years after union leaders promised to help it ride out the global downturn.

In 2009 sales dropped 1.0 percent to 31.86 trillion won year-on-year but net profit more than doubled to 2.96 trillion won.

"A strike is the union's weapon and its life but it should be the last resort," union leader Lee Kyung-Hoon said in a statement.

Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors control more than 70 percent of the domestic auto market.

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