Hyundai Motor sees amicable wage deal amid industry gloom

(ATTN: ADDS Kia Motors' cost-saving drive in final three paras, TRIMS throughout)
GOYANG, South Korea, April 3 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it expects
to strike an amicable deal on wages with its labor union as the company is
feeling the pain of the global economic crisis.
Hyundai and its 45,000-strong union will begin annual wage negotiations on April
10. The union is demanding Hyundai increase its monthly basic salary by 4.9
percent this year.
"Unlike the past, this year's wage negotiations won't be counterproductive,"
Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Yoon Yeo-chul said on the sidelines of the 2009 Seoul
Motor Show.
"Both sides should reach a mutually acceptable deal as they are both feeling the
(effects of the) global crisis," Yoon said.
Poor labor relations are considered one of the big hurdles for Hyundai in its
efforts to become one of the world's most competitive automakers. Strikes have
been an annual ritual at Hyundai's wage talks.
In sign that labor relations at Hyundai are improving, the union agreed last
month to adjust production lines to boost output of small cars.
In March, Hyundai's vehicle sales dropped 9.8 percent to 233,443 units, marking
the fifth consecutive monthly fall.
In the first three months of this year, Hyundai's sales declined 13.5 percent to
616,325 units, the company said earlier.
Separately, officials at Kia Motors Corp., a unit of Hyundai, said the company
will hold talks with its labor union to scale back employee benefits to save
cash.
Kia also plans to temporarily suspend production of its Carnival minivans and
Pride compact cars for as many as five days this month, according to the company
officials.
Hyundai and Kia, which control more than 75 percent of the South Korean auto
market, form the world's fifth-largest automaker.
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