Union rejects plan for a second shift at Hyundai

Workers at Hyundai Motor Co., Korea’s biggest carmaker, rejected a plan to add a second shift at its commercial vehicle plant in Jeonju, south of Seoul, hampering the company’s efforts to boost commercial vehicle output.
Union members at the Jeonju plant yesterday voted against a tentative agreement reached by the company and union leaders on Jan. 31, Hyundai Motor spokesman Jake Jang said by phone in Seoul. Union spokesman Song Hi-sok also confirmed the vote by phone.
The rejection, the second by the union this year, comes as Hyundai Motor aims to nearly triple its global sales of commercial vehicles by 2010 . Its strategy for doing so is to introduce new models and increase exports. It plans to sell 140,000 buses and trucks annually by 2010, including 90,000 exports, the Seoul-based carmaker said on Nov. 9.
The Jeonju plant operates at less than half its annual production capacity of 125,000 buses and trucks, due to opposition to an extra shift by the union, which cites deteriorating working conditions.