Kia Motors union to resume partial strike

SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- The labor union of Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's No.
2 carmaker, said Sunday it will resume a partial strike this week following the
failure of recent wage negotiations.
The labor and management of the carmaker failed to iron out differences in wage
talks on Friday. Demanding a pay raise and improved working conditions, the union
had been staging an eight-hour walkout that was temporarily stopped Thursday
ahead of the meeting.
"We will resume the discontinued partial strike from Monday," the union said.
"Day-shift workers will walk away from the job for four hours, with night-shift
unions doing the same."
Both sides have held a series of wage negotiations since May, but failed to
straighten out their differences, prompting the union to stage a walkout late
last month.
The union is demanding that Kia raise its base monthly salary by 5.5 percent and
offer a 200 percent bonus. The automaker is pushing for a wage freeze, however,
citing unfavorable market conditions.
A company official said it cannot accept the union's unreasonable demand in light
of a protracted economic slump.
Kia Motors said the partial strike, if prolonged, could cost the company up to 1
trillion won (US$807 million) in lost production. The automaker said previous
strikes have already cost 500 billion won in lost output.
Kia Motors reported on Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings nearly quadrupled
as government tax incentives and rising overseas demand for small cars boosted
sales.
Net profit reached 347 billion won in the April-June period, compared with a
profit of 85.9 billion won a year earlier, with sales increasing 11.5 percent to
4.68 trillion won.
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