No Relief From Partial Strikes for Hyundai

Despite hints from a source familiar with the situation that collective bargaining talks at Hyundai were warming up and the auto maker was planning to present a wage offer in meetings on Thursday and Friday, the talks ended with no apparent resolution.

The Hyundai union now is ordering partial strikes on both Monday, Sept. 2, and Tuesday, Sept. 3. Additionally, workers have been told not to report for the weekend shifts, which would account for 17 hours of production losses.

But as of late Friday night (Korea time) the union had not officially notified the company of the weekend strike action, a Hyundai spokesman tells WardsAuto.

Both sides decline to comment on whether a wage offer had been made or if any progress in the talks has been realized. Before the last round of talks, Hyundai President and CEO Yoon Gap-hanasked the union to accelerate the bargaining sessions by holding three rounds of negotiations each week.

The Hyundai spokesman says as of the close of business Friday, partial strikes had cost the auto maker a total of 28,084 units of production valued at 576.3 billion won ($519.3 million).

The union has held seven partial strikes in the past two weeks, a tactic that not only prevents Hyundai from filling sales requests but also plays havoc with the scheduling of parts, transportation logistics, work assignments and other operations.

Sister-brand Kia’s total cumulative production loss, including a 4-hour partial strike last week and additional lost builds when the union refused to work on Saturday, Aug. 24, stands at 7,745 vehicles valued at 137.1 billion won ($123.5 million), a spokesman tells WardsAuto.

Korea’s national parts suppliers group, the Korea Auto Industries Cooperative Assn., has issued a public letter denouncing the Korea Metal Workers Union branches at both Hyundai and Kia for staging the strikes, which it says could cost Tier 1 companies 79.5 billion won ($71.6 million) in daily sales.