Hyundai Motor Union Rejects Tentative Wage Deal

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor's labour union said on Tuesday its members have rejected the tentative wage deal its leadership had agreed with management last week. The union in a statement said 50.2 percent of 45,008 voters rejected the deal as they deemed wage levels were inadequate compared with previous years' agreements, whereas 48.2 percent accepted the terms. The remaining votes were invalid.

Also Read: Hyundai Workers Halt SUV Production After Talks Collapse

The voting took place on Friday with a turnout of 88 percent, with the result tabulated early on Saturday. The union said it will do its best to reach a new tentative wage deal within the year. Hyundai Motor said it will continue to engage in discussions with the union and hopes for an amicable agreement at the earliest time.

Last month, Hyundai workers suspended production on two assembly lines to protest what they said was a unilateral move by the company to increase output. The South Korean company, part of the world's fifth-largest auto group along with its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp., said that the disruption would be temporary and it expects production to resume soon. Talks between the union and the management over increasing output of Kona sports utility vehicles collapsed when the two sides failed to narrow disagreements over how many workers will be working on the Kona, and other issues.

Also Read: Hyundai Korea Workers Resume Production Of Kona SUV After Two-Day Strike

However, workers resumed production of the Kona sport utility vehicle, ending a near two-day strike over the company's decision to expand the model's output ahead of its launch in the US. The South Korean automaker had halted plans to produce the Kona at their Ulsan plant near Seoul on a second assembly line at one of its domestic factories.

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