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Hyundai Motor, Kia unions urge top executive to end standard wage standoff
"If our demands are not given due consideration at the wage and collective bargaining agreement negotiations, workers will have no choice but to take action," they said, reiterating their warnings issued on July 1.
The country's highest court made a landmark ruling in December that said all fixed bonuses should be counted as standard wages. The move expands the scope of standard wages that can affect allowances given to workers for overtime duties and the size of severance pay employees receive when they retire.
The wage setting has become the crux of this year's labor-management negotiations as unions across industries want companies to abide by the Supreme Court ruling.
Since the management remains intractable to the demand of workers, the only person who can resolve this matter is group chairman Chung Mong-koo, who effectively "owns" the conglomerate and has the final say in the ways companies within the group are run, they said.
Company sources say serious wage talks are likely to begin around the second week of August after production line workers return from summer vacation.
Beside the two carmakers, union representatives from 19 other affiliate companies of the group took part in the press meeting in this industrial city located some 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
Among South Korean carmakers, Ssangyong Motor Co. and GM Korea Co. already resolved the issue with management accepting demand made by workers to some extent. Managers of both companies, however, said they are still waiting for the courts to determine how much fringe benefits should be counted as standard wage.
Despite demands by their workers, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have repeatedly said their past wage policies did not meet the regular, uniform and fixed requirement stipulated by the Supreme Court. They argue that the bonuses paid by the companies were conditional and therefore do not qualify to be included in standard wages.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
Copyrights Yonhap News. All Rights Reserved. Source Text
Source: Yonhap News (July. 30, 2014)
Date
2014.07.31
Views
428
According to Yonhap News,
(ULSAN=Yonhap News) Union leaders of South Korea's top two automakers urged their chairman Wednesday to resolve the standoff over the new wage system, warning that a failure to do so can result in a walkout.
"If our demands are not given due consideration at the wage and collective bargaining agreement negotiations, workers will have no choice but to take action," they said, reiterating their warnings issued on July 1.
The country's highest court made a landmark ruling in December that said all fixed bonuses should be counted as standard wages. The move expands the scope of standard wages that can affect allowances given to workers for overtime duties and the size of severance pay employees receive when they retire.
The wage setting has become the crux of this year's labor-management negotiations as unions across industries want companies to abide by the Supreme Court ruling.
Since the management remains intractable to the demand of workers, the only person who can resolve this matter is group chairman Chung Mong-koo, who effectively "owns" the conglomerate and has the final say in the ways companies within the group are run, they said.
Company sources say serious wage talks are likely to begin around the second week of August after production line workers return from summer vacation.
Beside the two carmakers, union representatives from 19 other affiliate companies of the group took part in the press meeting in this industrial city located some 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
Among South Korean carmakers, Ssangyong Motor Co. and GM Korea Co. already resolved the issue with management accepting demand made by workers to some extent. Managers of both companies, however, said they are still waiting for the courts to determine how much fringe benefits should be counted as standard wage.
Despite demands by their workers, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have repeatedly said their past wage policies did not meet the regular, uniform and fixed requirement stipulated by the Supreme Court. They argue that the bonuses paid by the companies were conditional and therefore do not qualify to be included in standard wages.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
Copyrights Yonhap News. All Rights Reserved. Source Text
Source: Yonhap News (July. 30, 2014)