The HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union has secured the legal right to strike after members approved industrial action in a three-day vote held from August 25 to 27, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday.
The union said 5,379 of its 8,127 members, or 66.19 per cent of all eligible members, voted in favour of strike action, clearing the majority threshold needed to legally launch a strike, the report said.
The Korea-based company, primarily engaged in shipbuilding, is scheduled to have its union hold a central dispute countermeasures committee meeting on August 28 to discuss whether to launch a strike and its schedule, the report added.
The union has demanded a KRW149,600 ($108.36) monthly base-pay increase, a 100 per cent bonus hike, at least 30 per cent of operating profit through performance sharing, changes to wage benefits and new hiring, the report said, adding that the company has yet to make a negotiating proposal.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries could not immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours.
The company told Yonhap it would participate sincerely in negotiations to narrow differences with the union, adding that labour and management would increase talks to three times a week from twice a week starting next week.
(Reporting by Gargi Gupta and Devika Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Tomasz Janowski)