Hyundai Motor Company Faces Second Failed Mediation, Strike Looms

As the Hyundai Motor Company labor union secures the right to strike, tensions between labor and management over wage negotiations have reached a peak. The possibility of a strike at Hyundai Motor Company for a second consecutive year is now coming into view. The key issues in this year's talks include the union's demand for performance pay equal to 30% of net profit, as well as extending the retirement age and guaranteeing employment amid the introduction of robots and artificial intelligence (AI).
The Central Labor Relations Commission said on the 25th that it held a second mediation meeting on the Hyundai Motor Company labor dispute, following the first session on the 19th, but concluded that mediation had failed because the gap between the two sides remained too wide to present a settlement proposal. With the Central Labor Commission's mediation falling through, the Hyundai Motor Company union has secured the right to strike.
Earlier, Hyundai Motor Company management and labor held 11 rounds of negotiations from May 6 to June 12 this year to conclude the 2026 wage agreement, but they failed to find common ground. The union then filed for labor dispute mediation with the Central Labor Relations Commission on the 15th.
The biggest issue this year is performance pay. The union is demanding that 30% of 2025 net profit be paid as bonuses. Hyundai Motor Company's net profit last year was 1.03648 trillion won, meaning the union's demand would require about 310 billion won in bonus funds. The company, however, maintains that it must consider last year's business results, the current business environment, and future investment costs.
The union is also demanding a 149,600 won increase in base pay, a raise in bonuses from 750% to 800%, an extension of the retirement age to 65, new hiring, and the introduction of a full monthly salary system. In particular, it has included the deployment of the robot Atlas on production lines and the shift to AI-based manufacturing processes among its bargaining agenda items, saying it cannot accept robot deployment without an agreement between labor and management.
The Hyundai Motor Company union passed a strike plan in a vote held the previous day among all 39,668 members, with 86.65% in favor. The union plans to launch the Central Strike Countermeasures Committee on the 30th and discuss the strike schedule and direction. The Central Labor Relations Commission said it would begin mediation at any time if labor and management continue voluntary talks and later request follow-up mediation after reaching an agreement.
Kim Jun-hyuk, Kim Dong-chan