Hyundai Workers Strike, Fearing Robots Will Take Their Jobs

Hyundai workers in South Korea have launched a partial strike, but this time the fight isn’t just about wages, it’s about survival. S. factories by 2028, employees are demanding guarantees that they won’t be replaced by machines. The three-day rolling strike involves workers leaving their shifts two hours early through Wednesday, with union leaders still negotiating to avoid a longer walkout.

The union is pushing for a bigger base pay increase, richer bonuses, and a profit-sharing system tied to Hyundai’s annual earnings. But the core demand is job security. Workers want formal talks before robots are introduced, protections for income as automation expands, and an extension of the retirement age from 60 to 65.

They argue that if tech workers share in the AI boom’s rewards, auto workers building the vehicles should too. Hyundai isn’t alone, Tesla. Mercedes-Benz. BMW, Toyota, and others are all investing heavily in humanoid robots for assembly lines and warehouses.

Hyundai’s management is standing firm. Domestic production chief Choi Yeong Il warned that past strikes only caused production losses, lost wages, and customer backlash. The company refuses to compensate workers for wages lost during the strike. For Hyundai, the timing is painful: South Korea builds roughly half of its global vehicle output, and even short stoppages can cost hundreds of millions in lost revenue.

But the company insists it won’t bend. Meanwhile, the union is betting that workers, unlike robots, can still make a compelling case for their place on the factory floor.