Date:21/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/07/21/stories/2006072104010300.htm

Back Hyundai Motor India signs 3-year wage pact

Our Bureau

Chennai , July 20

Hyundai Motor India on Thursday said it has signed a three-year wage agreement with its workers, the first such settlement in the 10-year history of the company. Till now, the company has been going in for only annual wage agreements.

According to reliable sources, the wage agreement, which covers about 1,700 technicians, will result in an average increase of 12 per cent in wages, or about Rs 3,500 a year. In the annual agreement so far, the increase worked out to about 10 per cent.

Besides, according to the sources, the company has also agreed to some welfare schemes and agreed to provide interest-free personal loans. The agreement signed on Thursday freezes the wages and enables the management and workers to focus more on productivity and quality issues, and incentive schemes, according to the sources.

The other employees of Hyundai Motor India — in the supervisory and non-worker categories — will continue to come under annual pay revisions, according to the sources.

A company press release said that the wage increase would come into effect from April 2006 and last till March 2009. It was a real pay rise for close to 4,000 workers in the company, the release said.

The release quoted Mr Heung Soo Lheem, Hyundai Motor India's Managing Director, as saying that the employees had shown true dedication towards the company and the negotiation process was constructive. The settlement would help in creating good industrial climate.