S.Korea union votes on deal to avert strike at Kia
(Reuters) – Union workers at South Korea’s Kia Motors (000270.KS) will vote on Thursday on a proposed deal with the management that could avert a strike at the automaker for the first time in 20 years.
Each year workers at Kia, considered among the country’s most militant organised groups, have gone on strike over wages, or other issues such as dismissal of colleagues.
A decision not to strike will be seen as a sign that the unions are starting to soften their ways, partly because of the uncertain global economic outlook.
Under the deal reached at talks this week with the management, Kia workers won a hefty bonus and company stock, in addition to a sizable wage increase.
The union, in return, agreed to reduce the number of employees involved in full-time union work from 200 to 21, seen as a major concession for one of the most powerful unions in the country.
“This ends a 20-consecutive-year cycle of strike at Kia Motors and marks a milestone in labour relations,” the country’s second largest automaker said in a statement.
The agreement with Kia follows a similar deal struck at sibling carmaker Hyundai (005380.KS) in July averting a strike.
Organised labour, long a disruptive force in Asia’s fourth largest economy, has shown signs it is bending under the impact of the global economic downturn, and President Lee Myung-bak’s conservative government has been set on curbing its power.
Lee, who once headed a major conglomerate, has made no secret of his desire to attack what he views to be excesses by unions, and his ruling Grand National Party has tried to pass a bill aimed at eroding their power by allowing more flexibility to employers in their hiring.
Lee’s government also implemented another law in July that requires employers to reduce the number of workers involved in union work full time while getting a salary, a custom that critics said allowed unions to grow beyond their size and cost.