Hyundai agrees with Unions on wage increase

• Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech (HMMC) has reached an agreement with the labor union on new terms for the wage section of the collective agreement.

• Employees can look forward to an average base salary increase of at least 11.7% starting April 1, 2023, and an additional 7.8% increase effective January 1, 2024, as well as extraordinary bonuses totaling CZK 40,000 and a number of other improvements.

At the Hyundai plant in Nošovice today, a new form of the wage section of the collective agreement (CA) was confirmed. The increase in base wages as of April 1, 2023, will average at least 11.7%. An employee in the position of Operator 3, which is the most common position at the HMMC plant, will thus see an increase of 4,000 CZK per month in their base wage in April 2023 and a further 3,000 CZK from January 2024.

The current wage section of the CA is valid until March 31, 2023, so in October last year, the Nošovice car manufacturer Hyundai began negotiations with the unions on its new form. After the eighth round of collective bargaining, the unions requested before Christmas that a mediator handle the resolution of disputed points in the CA. After negotiations with both parties, the mediator delivered a compromise proposal to resolve the collective dispute, which was agreed upon by both the company and the unions.

“The automotive industry has had to deal with a number of difficult challenges in recent years, which our manufacturing plant continues to face as well. Given the external circumstances, it was not easy for either side to find a common ground between their respective ideas about the new collective agreement. The agreed above-standard wage increase and other related adjustments are both a recognition of the excellent work of our employees and a reflection of our goal to maintain our position as the best employer in the Moravian-Silesian Region and to remain at the forefront of employee compensation across the Czech Republic.”

Petr Michník, Head of the Administrative Subdivision, HMMC

The Nošovice car manufacturer offers above-average financial compensation not only within the Moravian-Silesian Region; the average monthly earnings for worker positions in 2022 reached 47,518 CZK. Additionally, employees will receive an extraordinary bonus of 30,000 CZK in their February paycheck following the signing of the Collective Agreement addendum, and another 10,000 CZK payable by April 30, 2024. Due to the increase in base wages, bonuses and allowances derived from the base wage will also proportionally increase. Therefore, the expected final growth in earnings will be even more significant than the percentage increase in base wages.

“Collective bargaining is always about finding a compromise, and although this one was very difficult and problematic, in the end, we managed to reach it in a certain way. Only time will show the real benefit this new form of the wage addendum to the collective agreement will have for employees because this time we negotiated not only the increase in base wages and the amount of the compensation bonus but also other wage components that also affect employee remuneration,” commented Patrik Fupšo, chairman of the trade union organization.

The signing of the collective agreement addendum for the period from April 2023 to the end of March 2025 will take place in the coming days. The new addendum also addresses other adjustments that will positively impact employee financial compensation. These include, for example, changes in the rules for paying attendance bonuses, an increase in overtime pay allowances, and a higher contribution to the Benefit Cafeteria. Another new element concerns the length of vacation—while employees previously had the right to 25 days of vacation and, after 7 years worked at HMMC, were entitled to an additional day off, they will now be entitled to 26 days of vacation after 5 years and another additional day after 15 years worked.