À̹ÌÁö È®´ë The management of Kia Motors Corp. asked the government to clarify the legal base salary definition and pleaded to the court and union Tuesday, claiming a spike in labor cost could ruin not only the company but South Korea¡¯s overall industrial activity.
Kia Motors faces a court ruling on Aug. 31 on a lawsuit by 27,000 factory workers demanding what they claim are overdue wages by counting in overtime, bonuses, and other incentives as base salary.
The country¡¯s second largest automaker would have to pay around 3 trillion won ($2.64 billion) extra to its employees if it loses the trial.
¡°Overtime is common at automaking sites. If it is included in base salary, compensation could shoot up 50 percent,¡± said Kia Motors CEO Park Han-woo in a seminar among automakers on Tuesday.
The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA), the interest group for the country¡¯s five automakers, earlier this month issued a statement ahead of the Kia Motors ruling that they would have to take manufacturing bases out of the country if labor costs and strife worsen.
¡°We can pay the past dues if we lose, but our bottom line will be devastated at a time when we are struggling with sluggish sales in the U.S. and China,¡± he said.
Moreover, if compensations go up, the union of the company¡¯s bigger affiliate Hyundai Motor will make the same demand. ¡°The entire labor market could be disrupted,¡± he said.
Park handed in a petition to the court bench to explain the management¡¯s position.
He called upon the government to fix the ambiguity in defining the base salary.
The seminar comes as Korean automakers have been under multiple whammies - slump in sales in the world¡¯s two largest automobile markets, labor strife, and lawsuits challenging the base salary term.
By Park Chang-young
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]