Hyundai Motor Union Launches Strike for Second Consecutive Year: "Partial Production Disruptions Across All Models"

Partial Strike: Two Hours a Day Until July 15

The Hyundai Motor labor union launched a partial strike on July 13. As a result, production disruptions have occurred for all vehicle models, leading to estimated revenue losses of around 200 billion won.

On this day, Hyundai Motor announced that all its business sites, including the Hyundai Motor Ulsan Plant, would halt production in response to the union strike.

Hyundai Motor Company labor-management officials are having the 2026 wage negotiation introductory meeting in the Donghaeng Room of the main building at the Hyundai Motor Ulsan Plant. Hyundai Motor Company

Starting today, the Hyundai Motor Branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union will conduct a partial strike for three days, with both the morning and afternoon shifts stopping work for two hours each per day, for a total of four hours. Production workers in the morning shift will stop work at 1:30 p.m., two hours earlier than usual, while the afternoon shift will stop at 10:10 p.m.

As the finished car production lines are interconnected by process, if any part of the line is halted, it can affect not only vehicle assembly but also the supply of parts and shipping schedules. Since July 6, the union has also refused weekday overtime and Saturday special shifts.

In this year's wage and collective bargaining negotiations, the labor and management held a total of 15 negotiation rounds through July 8, but failed to reach an agreement over the wage increase rate and performance bonuses. Management made a third proposal that included an increase of 89,000 won in the monthly base wage, a performance bonus equivalent to 350% of the monthly salary plus 10 million won, and 15 shares of company stock. However, the union is demanding an additional offer.

There is also sharp confrontation over a proposal to raise the current bonus from 750% to 800%.

The union maintains that a sufficient wage increase is needed to secure real wages considering inflation, while the company asserts it lacks the capacity to do so due to last year’s operating profit decline and poor performance in the first half of this year. Last year, a total of 16 hours of the Hyundai Motor union's partial strikes resulted in production disruptions of about 7,000 vehicles and revenue losses of 300 billion won. In light of this, a 12-hour strike is expected to cause disruptions of around 5,000 vehicles and a sales decrease of approximately 225 billion won.

Issues beyond wages are also holding up the negotiations. The Hyundai Motor union is demanding the reinstatement of union members who were dismissed during union activities and an extension of the retirement age, whereas the company maintains these are unrelated to wage negotiations.

On July 10, CEO Choi Youngil issued a statement saying, “It is regrettable that a strike is being staged over issues not related to this year’s collective bargaining, especially since these matters have been subject to legal judgment and even last year’s labor-management agreement.”

The union plans to continue the strike through July 15, and if no agreement is reached, to convene the next Central Dispute Countermeasures Committee on July 16 to determine whether to stage additional strikes and the level of industrial action.

Hyundai Motor explained, “There is a possibility of additional strikes until collective bargaining negotiations are concluded. We will announce the resumption of production after an agreement has been reached.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.