Hyundai Motor union threatens full strike after summer break if management holds firm

The Hyundai Motor union has ratcheted up pressure on management ahead of the company's early-August summer break, launching three more days of partial strikes this week while warning that a full walkout could follow if the company fails to table a meaningful offer after the holiday.

The Korean Metal Workers' Union's Hyundai Motor chapter said Wednesday in a statement issued under its dispute-response committee that "if we stop here, our rights stop here," adding that it would "press on with the strike without wavering."

The union is staging four-hour partial strikes by shift from Wednesday through Friday. The day shift will strike from 10:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the night shift from 7:30 p.m. to 12:10 a.m. the following day. Permanent day-shift workers will join from 12:40 p.m. to 4:40 p.m., and general office staff from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

On Wednesday, the union will also hold a general strike rally for all night-shift members. The sales, service, Namyang and Mobis committees will each conduct strikes of the same scale, adjusted to their respective circumstances.

The union accused management of delaying further proposals despite having sufficient capacity to pay. It said that while Hyundai Motor's second-quarter earnings announcement showed sales growth, management cited a decline in operating profit — but the union charged that the company was "cleverly using tariffs, supply chain issues and a drop in global sales tied to joint strategy as excuses."

The union also presented its own analysis. Using 2020 as a baseline of 100, it said Hyundai Motor's operating profit climbed to 520 last year, while executive compensation reached 220 and average employee wages were limited to 140. On that basis, the union argued the company "has ample capacity to pay — for wage increases including performance bonuses, a 50 percent raise in bonuses, and an extension of the retirement age." It added that management "is deliberately stalling despite having the means to offer more, bringing about a breakdown and prolonged negotiations on its own."

The union also held firm against reports that management had suggested it might table additional proposals on condition that the union withdraw some key demands. "If we concede once this time, we judge that next year management will say 'if it hadn't been this way' — and the tilt in labor-management relations will only accelerate further," the union said, vowing to "win these demands without fail."

The union also signaled a long campaign ahead on the question of strike intensity. Responding to members who asked why strikes were being held only three days a week, the union said it viewed the current pace as "a warm-up phase from a long-term perspective," and that if management's stance changes after the summer break, it plans to "gradually raise the level of both strike hours and strike days."

The union directly raised the possibility of a full strike. "A full strike involves many factors to consider, including wage losses," it said, "but if management's attitude does not change and this struggle accelerates, a full strike will be where it ends."

The union is treating management's post-vacation offer as the next turning point. In a separate statement, it said the summer break was "a moment to rest briefly," but warned that management was "playing for time, aiming to sow confusion on the shop floor and destabilize the leadership." It added: "If we retreat now, every drop of sweat and every sacrifice made so far will have meant nothing," and called on management to "come forward with a clear proposal after the vacation."

Hyundai Motor's domestic plants will be on summer vacation from Monday through Aug. 7. Including the weekends on either side, the production gap stretches to nearly 10 days in early August. The union plans to revisit its strike strategy after the break.

Hyundai Motor has already been dealing with production disruptions this month from partial strikes and refusals to work overtime. Those disruptions are compounding pressure on the company to normalize output in the second half of the year, as aging-equipment replacement work at the Asan plant, the summer shutdown and a line-conversion schedule at the Ulsan plant all converge.