South Korea’s Hyundai, union agree on tentative wage deal after rare full-day strike

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor and the union representing its workers have reached a tentative deal on wages and bonuses, both sides said on Tuesday after a rare full-day strike.Around 40,000 employees of a roughly 73,000-strong domestic workforce at the country’s largest carmaker walked off the job on Friday, according to union figures, in the first such action for a decade.The union said on Monday that it had returned to talks with the company and had postponed shorter strikes planned for this week.Hyundai said on Tuesday that the two sides had struck a “tentative agreement”, while the union indicated that the firm had agreed to partly meet its demands.“We agreed to increase the basic monthly salary by 100,000 won (US$72) and pay a bonus equivalent to four months’ salary,” the union said in a statement.Members of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union rally next to a mock vehicle in front of the Hyundai Motor headquarters in Seoul on Friday. Photo: AFPThe company will also meet another demand to raise the retirement age once the government passes legislation on a nationwide hike from 60 years to 65.