Hyundai workers approve strike over robot rollout and pay demands

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor union voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, with 86‑93% of its 39,668 members backing the action. The union’s demands include a KRW 149,600 (≈US$97) monthly base‑pay increase, a performance bonus equal to 30% of the company’s net profit, higher bonuses, and raising the retirement age to 65. Central to the dispute is the planned deployment of Hyundai’s Atlas humanoid robots – developed by its Boston Dynamics subsidiary – with the union insisting that “not a single humanoid robot will be allowed on the production lines without a labour‑management agreement.” Workers warn that each robot costs less than two years of a worker’s wage and fear job losses as Hyundai aims to produce up to 30,000 Atlas units annually by 2028, many for its U.S. plant in Savannah, Georgia. Management argues the robots will handle dangerous, repetitive tasks. The strike threat follows stalled wage talks after 11 negotiation rounds and comes as Hyundai’s operating profit fell 19.5% amid tariffs, supply‑chain costs and slowing EV demand. A walkout would disrupt the world’s largest single‑site car factory at Ulsan and reverberate through the global supply chain. Other automakers such as BMW are also testing humanoid robots, underscoring a broader industry shift toward automation.