The labour union of Hyundai Motor, South Korea's top automaker, announced on Saturday it has elected a militant candidate as its new leader who narrowly beat a rival who led the union without a strike for three consecutive years. Moon Yong-moon will now lead labour talks with Hyundai Motor, the world's fifth-biggest automaker along with affiliate Kia Motors, as it faces slower volume growth due to stretched manufacturing capacity.
Moon, 46, secured a 51.52 percent support in final voting which took place late Friday while incumbent Lee Kyung-hoon won a 48.09 percent, failing to become the first Hyundai union leader elected for a second-term, according to the union. Moon has pledged to ensure a bonus equivalent to eight months of salary, scrap a current labour law limiting the number of full-time paid unionists and introduce a new production shift scheme next year. "We will launch a strike, if we think it is necessary. But it is not like that we think a strike is a panacea," Lee Yang-sik, the chief campaign manager for Moon, told Reuters on Saturday. This year marked the third consecutive year Hyundai Motor and its union reached a wage deal without strikes.