Return of hardline union leader at Hyundai Motor raises concerns for militant ways

Militant leadership has taken command of the unions at two of South Korea’s biggest industrial sites Hyundai Motor Co. and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., raising concerns about renewed labor unrest in Korean manufacturing facilities on top of ongoing virus and supply bottleneck woes.

According to the Hyundai Motor branch of the militant umbrella trade body Korean Metal Workers’ Union on Wednesday, hardliner Ahn Hyun-ho won 22,101 votes or 53.33 percent from the entire 48,000 unionized members to reign over one of the most influential unions for two years from January next year.

Ahn, who belongs to the higher combative umbrella group, joined the struggle against the Hyundai Motor layoffs in 1998 and as a deputy chair spearheaded a violent protest during the 2007 New Year’s kick-off ceremony after a cut in performance-based incentives.

For the election, he vowed to employ the complete salary system that guarantees an overtime premium for 30 hours without work, application of normal wage when calculating the performance-based incentives, extension of the retirement date in stages, installation of key parts manufacturing facilities in preparation for mobility shift to hydrogen cars and electric vehicles, and expanded right to refuse work.

Shortening work hours to seven from eight per day also was among his campaign pledges, raising concerns about a possible dispute between the management and union under the country’s 52-hour workweek rule that has already caused output shortages.

Ahn’s victory can toughen the odds for Hyundai Motor management, which has managed to end two years without a strike.

“The return of hard-liner to the union head underscores the apprehensions about loss of work and job security. The claim about extension of retirement age implies selfishness of the union,” observed one union expert.

Hyundai Motor earlier this year reduced the number of workers at its production lines by 30 percent and deployed them to other jobs. The automaker is speeding up phase-out from combustion-engine cars for migration to green cars and automated vehicles like UAM and robotics technologies, raising concerns for replacement of human jobs.

Recently, hardline union leaders have become popular at large business sites in Korea amid the virus hardship and crisis in the manufacturing industry and following unemployment risk.

Unionized workers of the country’s biggest shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. elected hawkish candidate Jung Byeong-cheon to sustain militant and political leadership legacy since 2013.

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