SEOUL– Kia Corp. and its labor union on Monday signed a wage agreement for 2021 without an industrial action occurring for the first time in a decade.
On Friday, 68 percent of 26,945 Kia workers voted in favor of wage offers that include an increase of 75,000 won (US$64.30) in basic monthly pay, two months of wages in performance-based pay and cash bonuses worth 5.8 million won. More than 1,600 out of the 28,604-member union abstained.
But the company rejected the union’s demand to extend the retirement age to 65 from the current 60 and reinstate fired workers.
The last time Kia and its union reached a wage agreement without a strike happened in 2011.
From January to July, its sales jumped 22 percent to 1.69 million vehicles from 1.39 million during the same period of last year.
Kia said it will launch the K8 sedan and the all-electric EV6 embedded with Hyundai Motor Group’s own EV platform in global markets in Europe and the United States later this year to boost sales.
Early this month, the maker of the K5 sedan and the Telluride SUV launched the EV6 in the domestic market.
Last month, its bigger affiliate, Hyundai Motor Co., and its union signed a wage deal without a strike for the third consecutive year.
Hyundai Motor and Kia are key affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group and together form the world’s fifth-largest carmaker by sales.
Source: Yonhap News Agency