The Hyundai Motor Company labor union will launch an additional partial strike starting on the 12th. Following a sharp decline in Hyundai's domestic and overseas sales performance and production volume due to three partial strikes last month, this strike will see strike hours expanded to a maximum of six hours, making further production disruptions inevitable.

Impact of July Partial Strikes... Domestic and Overseas Sales Down 5.1% Hyundai sold a total of 318,454 units last month, including 48,113 units domestically and 270,341 units overseas. This figure represents a 5.1% decrease compared to the same month last year, with domestic sales falling by 14.4% and overseas sales declining by 3.2%. The company officially identified production disruptions caused by the union's strikes as the primary reason for the sluggish sales.

In fact, the cumulative production disruption from three partial strikes last month was tallied at 60 hours and 42,510 units. Since Hyundai's production line consists of multiple consecutively connected processes, a halt in one process impacts subsequent ones, which is expected to increase the production burden in the second half of the year.

Wage Negotiations at an Impasse... Union and Management Proposals Remain Far Apart In this year's wage negotiations, the union and management remain far apart on key issues.

• Union Demands: A base salary increase of 149,600 won per month (excluding seniority-based increments), a performance bonus equivalent to 30% of last year's net profit, an 800% bonus, guarantees for employment and working conditions amid the expanded adoption of AI and humanoid robots, implementation of a full monthly salary system, reduction of working hours without intensifying labor, extension of the retirement age linked to the timing of national pension eligibility, and reinstatement of dismissed workers.
• Management Proposal (3rd Proposal at the 15th Negotiation): A base salary increase of 89,000 won per month, a 350% performance bonus plus 10 million won, and 15 shares of company stock.
• * *(Reference) 1st Proposal:* Base salary increase of 79,000 won, 350% performance bonus plus 9 million won, 10 shares of company stock / *(Reference) 2nd Proposal:* Base salary increase of 84,000 won, 350% performance bonus plus 9.5 million won, 12 shares of company stock.

The management maintains its position that some of the union's demands fall outside the scope of wage negotiations or are realistically difficult to accept, leaving a significant gap between the two sides.

Strike Hours to Gradually Expand from the 12th... What Is the Schedule? The Hyundai Motor Branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union held a Central Struggle Countermeasure Committee meeting on the 11th and decided to regroup its momentum for struggle after the summer vacation, launching an additional partial strike from the 12th.

Strike hours will also increase from the existing four hours to a maximum of six hours. On the 12th and 13th, strikes will be held for four hours each day, and on the 14th and 18th, they will be expanded to six hours each day by job category. Workers in Job Group 1, Regular Job Group 1, Job Group 2, Regular Day Shift, and general positions will stop work at their respective designated times, while the Sales & Service, Namyang, and Mobis committees will adjust their strike schedules according to their individual circumstances.

However, it was agreed that if main negotiations resume, any strike scheduled on the day of negotiation will be suspended. The union plans to discuss the future direction of its struggle at the next Central Struggle Countermeasure Committee meeting on the 18th. The union stated, "We will resume the strike after the summer vacation to pressure the management and move forward unwaveringly to achieve our demands."