SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest automaker, will stage a partial strike for two days to seek higher wages and better working conditions, the company's union said Wednesday.þþUnion representatives meeting earlier in the day decided that the workers will walk off assembly lines for two hours on Thursday and six hours on Friday, the union said in a statement posted on its Web site.þþLate Tuesday, about 70 percent of Hyundai's 42,521-member union voted in favor of a strike to pressure the company to accept a range of demands including higher wages and a greater say in management decisions.þþIn June, the labor union demanded an 8.48 percent increase in basic wages, incentive payments equivalent to 30 percent of Hyundai's net income and shorter working hours.þþ''We hope to reach a compromise with the management as soon as possible if the company provides reasonable suggestions,'' said Jang Kyu-ho, the union's spokesman.þþNews of the strike sent Hyundai Motor shares 3.3 percent lower to close Wednesday at 69,600 won ($68).þþThe planned strike ''will have only a temporary impact on Hyundai's shares as short term investors are likely to take profits,'' Kim Hag-ju, an analyst at Samsung Securities, wrote in a report. ''Considering the firm's inventory levels, damage to its sales will be minimal.''þþHyundai, which is aiming to become the world's sixth-largest carmaker along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. by 2010, currently has production capacity of 2.65 million vehicles annually worldwide.þþMore than 70 percent of Hyundai's output is manufactured in South Korea.þþLast year, Hyundai's union staged a five-day strike between late June and early July, which cost the company about 263.1 billion won ($256 million) in production losses.þþSeparately, the labor union at Kia Motors planned to vote on a strike Friday. þþ
Source: NY Times
