[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyung-wook ] The HyundaiMotor Company labor union launched a full-scale strike on the 21st amid difficulties in this year’s wage negotiations. This marks the first time in 10 years—since 2016—that the union has staged an 8-hour full-scale strike in a single day.

The HyundaiMotor Branch of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union announced that both the morning and afternoon shifts would each participate in an 8-hour strike that day. As a result, major production lines at the Ulsan, Asan, and Jeonju plants will effectively be shut down for one day, causing a total of 16 hours of production disruptions. The total number of union members participating in the strike, including both production and office workers, amounts to approximately 39,000.

Since the initial meeting for wage negotiations last May, the union has been conducting partial strikes, carrying out phased actions lasting 2 to 6 hours at a time. Including this full-scale strike, the cumulative strike time has increased to 60 hours. The industry estimates that if the cumulative production line downtime reaches 120 hours due to this strike, it will result in production shortfalls of approximately 55,200 units and revenue losses exceeding 2.3 trillion won.

Management and the union have been unable to bridge their differences on key issues, including a 50% increase in bonuses, the reinstatement of laid-off workers, and an extension of the retirement age. Although negotiations resumed on the 18th after a hiatus of about 40 days, it is reported that no concrete agreement was reached.

The HyundaiMotor Union’s current full-scale strike is having a significant impact because it has brought the entire production line to a halt, going beyond the level of a simple partial strike. In particular, amid intensifying global competition in the electric vehicle market, there are concerns that prolonged production disruptions could affect HyundaiMotor’s supply schedule. The industry estimates that losses from the cumulative strikes have already reached hundreds of billions of won, and the damage is expected to grow even further if additional strikes occur.

The union has announced plans for two-hour partial strikes on the 24th and 25th. If the company does not present additional proposals, the union plans to convene the Central Strike Response Committee on the 25th to decide whether to hold further strikes and the intensity of any such action.