Hyundai Motor, HD Hyundai Heavy unions set to strike over bonuses, retirement age
Negotiations at both Ulsan heavyweights have stalled, with a range of demands from labor rebuffed by management as the auto and shipbuilding sectors brace for downstream effects.
Morning-shift workers leave Hyundai Motor’s Ulsan plant two hours early in Buk District, Ulsan, on July 13.YONHAP
Wage negotiations at Hyundai Motor and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, both anchored by major production bases in Ulsan, remain deadlocked over retirement age and bonus demands, with both companies now headed toward a strike.
Hyundai Motor’s union moved first, escalating to four-hour partial strikes for each day and night shift over three days, from Monday through Wednesday. The union ramped up its protest after earlier two-hour walkouts by each shift failed to move negotiations forward. Production lines could now be idled for up to eight hours a day, heavily disrupting vehicle output.
The two sides have not held formal negotiations since the 15th round of talks on July 8. Management’s offer included an 89,000 won ($60) increase in monthly base pay, a performance bonus worth 350 percent of monthly pay plus 10 million won, and 15 company shares, but the union rejected it.
The union is instead seeking a 149,600 won increase in monthly base pay, performance-based compensation equal to 30 percent of net profit, higher bonuses, an increase in the company-imposed retirement age to 65 and the reinstatement of dismissed workers. It insists the current retirement age of 60 should rise to align with eligibility for the national pension.
Hyundai Motor currently lets employees who reach 60 continue working for one additional year under fixed-term contracts through a skilled-worker re-employment program. The company maintains that raising the retirement age requires broader social discussion and that the reinstatement issue has already been resolved through legal proceedings.
Industry sources are wary of a prolonged strike disrupting production. Partial strikes last year cost the automaker roughly 7,000 vehicles in lost output and an estimated 300 billion won in sales. There are concerns that another extended strike this year would place a growing burden on the wider auto industry, including parts suppliers.
“All a strike leaves behind is mounting production losses, lost wages and public criticism,” Hyundai Motor CEO Choi Young-il said in a recent statement. “We are being pushed toward a strike by demands to reinstate dismissed workers, which is not a matter for bargaining, along with retirement age and bonus demands that fall under the collective bargaining agreement.”
Union members ride motorcycles at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ main shipyard in Ulsan on Sept. 3, 2025.YONHAP
Negotiations at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have similarly stalled. Labor and management have met 13 times since their first session last month without reaching an agreement.
The union is demanding a 149,600 won increase in monthly base pay — on top of the regular seniority-based raise — a bonus increase equal to 100 percent of monthly pay, at least 30 percent of operating profit distributed as performance-based compensation and a 2 billion won contribution toward recreational facilities.
It is also pushing the company to expand the scope of payments counted as ordinary wages, raise the retirement age and hire new workers. The union plans to move forward with formal strike procedures, including filing for mediation with the National Labor Relations Commission, unless the shipbuilder presents a concrete proposal at Tuesday’s negotiations.
“We are negotiating in good faith to narrow the gap between labor and management, and will continue working toward an amicable agreement,” an HD Hyundai Heavy Industries representative said.
BY KIM YOUN-HO [kim.hayoon1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
