Kia Motor main plant to resume production from Monday!

We got some good news from Kia Motors this morning.  It was reported that its main plant near Seoul will resume production on Monday, ending a one-week halt due to a strike by contract workers.

Union workers at the country’s second-biggest auto maker and a smaller affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co had accepted a wage deal on Aug. 17, but contract workers had stopped working at the Hwaseong plant since Aug. 24, demanding the same salaries as Kia’s regular workers.

“The strike ended yesterday and the plant’s operation will start from Monday,” said an official at Kia Motors.

“The union was the key to solving this issue. It stepped forward to soothe the ruffled feelings of contract workers.”

The stoppage by contract workers at the Hwaseong plant, which accounts for 42 percent of the auto maker’s total output, was estimated to cost the company about 10,000 vehicles or 140 billion won ($149.2 million) in lost output, according to a company official.

In July, Kia’s unionised workers staged partial strikes for nine days to demand higher wages and better working conditions, which the auto maker estimated had cost it $300 million.