SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Hyundai Motor Co.'s labor union voted Friday to walk off the job for part of the workday next week amid a dispute over bonus payments, but the beleaguered automaker warned a strike could lead to ''the destruction of both the company and the union.''þþHyundai's union said on its Web site that its members will quit working for a total of eight hours over two shifts Monday at each its three assembly plants.þþWorkers plan normal shifts Tuesday, but on Wednesday will strike for a total of 14 hours over two shifts, the union said. It will decide further action, if any, on Wednesday.þþA total of 400 representatives voted unanimously earlier Friday for the 44,000-strong member union to walk off the job, union chief Park Yoo-ki told Dow Jones Newswires.þþThe automaker blasted the decision.þþ''Another strike would be an act that leads to the destruction of both the company and the union,'' Hyundai said in a statement. The two sides ''should cooperate to solve the managerial realities of Hyundai Motor, which is in crisis.''þþLabor troubles are a near constant headache for Hyundai. Through 2006, Hyundai's union has gone on strike every year but one since it was established in 1987.þþThe union has refused to work overtime since Dec. 28 after workers received a bonus equal to one month's salary, which they say is less than agreed.þþThe company says the negotiated bonus total was based on an incentive to reach the company's 2006 production target and since that was not achieved because of strikes, the payment was reduced.þþOn Monday, Hyundai sued the union, seeking damages to help cover production losses caused by the dispute. Hyundai is seeking 1 billion won ($1.06 million) from the union and 27 of its leaders.þþTensions boiled over last week when workers scuffled with company officials at an annual New Year's ceremony at Hyundai's main Ulsan facility, 260 miles southeast of Seoul.þþHyundai President Youn Yeo-chul, who is also the top official at the factory, suffered minor cuts and bruises and had his glasses broken.þþCompany spokesman Jake Jang said that 2006 was Hyundai's worst ever year in terms of strikes.þþA total of four walkouts cost the company 118,293 vehicles in lost production costing 1.64 trillion won ($1.74 billion), Jang said.þþHyundai was buffeted by turmoil much of last year following the April arrest and jailing of Chairman Chung Mong-koo on embezzlement and breach of trust charges related to a slush fund scandal.þþChung, 68, was released from detention in late June on bail and returned to work after spending time in a hospital. He is currently on trial.þþ
Source: NY Times
