现代汽车工会暂停8月24日罢工并重启薪资谈判，起亚罢工威胁或受影响

Hyundai Motor's (005380.KS) labor union has agreed to suspend a strike scheduled for the 24th and resume wage negotiations with management, drawing attention to a possible breakthrough. Damage has been mounting since the union began partial walkouts last month and staged its first full-scale strike in 10 years on the 21st, disrupting production and delaying new-model launches, leaving both sides in urgent need of a way out of their standoff.
Hyundai Motor and its union said on the 23rd that they would hold their 17th round of talks at the Ulsan plant on the 24th. As a result, the union will forgo its planned four-hour partial strike on the 24th, one of two four-hour walkouts scheduled for the 24th and 25th. Whether the remaining strike goes ahead will depend on the outcome of the renewed talks.
The two sides remain sharply at odds over this year's pay raise, a proposed 50% increase in bonuses, the reinstatement of union members dismissed for illegal acts during past union activities, and an extension of the retirement age. After talks stalled following an initial meeting on May 6, the union began staging intermittent partial strikes of two to six hours from the 13th of last month, and held an eight-hour full-scale strike on the 21st, its first in 10 years.
Cumulative strike time so far totals 60 hours. Because morning and afternoon shifts of technical (production) workers strike separately, the halt in production-line operations amounts to 120 hours, twice that figure. The auto industry estimates that about 55,200 vehicles have been affected by the disruption.
In addition, Hyundai Motor has announced new-model launches for the first time in six years, including a full-redesign Tucson and Genesis's first hybrid. If the union's strike continues, the scheduled timeline will inevitably keep slipping.
The outcome of the Hyundai talks on the 24th is also expected to affect wage negotiations at Kia (000270.KS), which faces its own strike threat after failing to narrow differences. Kia's union has proposed launching partial walkouts from the 26th and continuing them through the 28th. An actual strike by the Kia union would break a five-year record of no labor disputes maintained from 2021 through last year.
The Kia union is demanding a 149,600-won increase in base pay, performance bonuses equal to 30% of last year's operating profit, a 4.5-day workweek, and an extension of the retirement age to 65.
"If the Hyundai talks find a thread of progress, Kia's management and union could also reschedule their negotiations," an industry official said. "I understand the Kia union's position is that it could postpone or cancel its strike plans if a negotiation schedule is set."