Unionists' Vote Slated on Jan. 17
The union and management of Kia Motors have reached a second tentative agreement on wage hikes for the year of 2019 at the 19th round of main negotiations held at the Sohari plant in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, the two sides announced on Jan. 14
Major details of the second tentative agreement include the company’s contribution of 1 billion won to the Internal Welfare Fund, allowing all workers to take off on May 4 to enjoy holidays from April 30 to May 5, and the operation of a joint labor-management task force team related to overtime work.
The tentative agreement will be put to a vote by union members on Jan. 17.
In the first tentative agreement reached at the main negotiation meeting on Dec. 10, Kia's labor and management agreed to raise the basic monthly wage by 40,000 won (US$34), performance and encouragement bonuses worth one and a months of wage plus 3 million won in cash per worker, gift certificates worth 200,000 won per worker and the company’s donation of 3 billion won to the Social Contribution Fund.
The agreement, however, was voted down by 56 percent, or 15,159, of Kia's 27,050 union members on Dec. 13. As negotiations stalled, Kia's union staged partial strikes on Dec. 18-19 and 24.
The union and management began their 18th round of main negotiations earlier this month, but the negotiations broke down again. The union went on a partial strike on Jan. 13 and suspended it as it went on a renegotiation with the management on Jan. 14.
"We formed a consensus between labor and management in overcoming the uncertain business environment and reached a second tentative agreement," a company official said. "We will do our best to conclude the prolonged negotiations and ensure that new models are produced as scheduled and in high quality."