Hyundai Motor Union to Stage Four-Hour Strikes Next Week as Wage Talks Stall

Hyundai Motor's union said Thursday its workers will stage four-hour strikes during their respective shifts from July 20 to 22, Yonhap reported. The action follows two-hour walkouts by day and night shift employees from Monday through Wednesday of the current week. The 39,668-member union has held 15 rounds of wage negotiations in 2026 without reaching agreement.

It is demanding a 149,600-won increase in monthly base pay and performance-based pay equivalent to 30 percent of the company's 2025 net profit. Hyundai Motor posted a net profit of 10.36 trillion won last year. The company has offered an 80,000-won increase in monthly base pay, a performance bonus equivalent to 350 percent of monthly salary plus 10 million won, and 15 shares of company stock.

Workers left a Hyundai Motor factory in the southeastern city of Ulsan two hours before the end of their daytime shift on July 13, the first day of the initial partial walkout, Yonhap reported. The company produces Sonata sedans and Palisade sport utility vehicles at the site.