GM Korea workers OK 2017 wage deal

SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- Unionized workers at GM Korea Co. on Tuesday accepted wage terms offered by the company, sealing long-drawn wage negotiations.

In a vote held Tuesday, 69.2 percent of 12,340 union members who cast ballots supported the tentative agreement signed by the company and the union last month, GM Korea said in a statement.

"The company has experienced significant challenges in 2017, which will continue in 2018," GM Korea President and Chief Executive Kaher Kazem said. "We are focused on turning our Korean business around, and it is our hope to develop a profitable and sustainable future for GM Korea."

Under the agreed terms, GM Korea workers will receive an increase of 50,000 won (US$47) in basic monthly salary, a lump-sum payment of 6 million won ($5,600) on Feb. 14 and a 4.5 million won performance bonus on April 6, the statement said.

The company and its labor union agreed to commence wage negotiations for the year 2018 immediately to avoid any production losses and to seek profitability, it said.

For the whole of 2017, the South Korean unit of Detroit-based General Motors Co. saw its combined sales slump 12 percent on-year to 524,547 vehicles from 597,165.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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