Hyundai Hit By Strikes In South Korea: 40,000 Workers Walk Out Demanding Higher Pay And Shorter Work Week

Hyundai Motor's union will stage partial strikes this week at plants across South Korea, demanding higher wages and shorter working hours.

About 40,000 workers are set to walk off the job for two hours on Wednesday and Thursday and four hours on Friday at factories including Ulsan, Jeonju and Asan. The action follows an Aug. 25 vote in which a majority supported the plan, according to a Reuters report. 

The union is asking for a 30% bonus from Hyundai's 2024 net income, when the company posted record U.S. revenue, alongside an increase in the retirement age to 64 from 60 and a shift to a 4.5-day work week.

The dispute comes just days after South Korea's parliament passed new union rules under President Lee Jae Myung's Democratic Party, strengthening protections for subcontracted workers. 

The amendments, known as the“Yellow Envelope Act,” give unions more power to demand concessions from client firms, curb employers' ability to claim damages over strikes, and broaden executives' responsibility to join collective bargaining. Lee is expected to sign the bill into law.

Hyundai's union, one of the country's most influential, has not held a full-time strike over wages in seven years. In December 2024, members staged a two-day partial walkout to protest former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law declaration.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Hyundai was 'neutral' amid 'low' message volume.

Hyundai Motor's South Korean shares have risen nearly 10% so far in 2025.

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