SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- About 35,000 workers at Hyundai Motor Co. staged a half-day strike Friday calling for raises and better working conditions, the latest in a series of work stoppages.
The auto workers held the six-hour strike Friday morning, and another 10,000 others prepared to do the same later in the day, union spokesman Chang Kyu-ho said.
The limited strike is the fourth of the kind this month. The three previous walkouts cost the company about 148 billion won ($146 million) in lost production of 9,650 vehicles, according to Hyundai Motor Co.
Friday's strike was expected to cost another 87.8 billion won ($86.7 million) in lost production, the country's largest automaker said.
Striking workers were calling for a 8.8 percent pay increase and the abolishment of an all-night shift, according to the company management and union.
Thousands of unionized workers at Kia Motors Corp., an affiliate of Hyundai, also launched a similar partial strike Friday, demanding a higher wage and better working conditions, according to union spokesman Song Ho-chang.
Kia union members laid down their tools together with Hyundai workers in the three previous strikes, costing the firm about 65 billion won ($64 million) in lost production of 5,000 vehicles, according to Kia spokesman Kim Jun-myung.
Kia was expected to lose additional 37 billion won ($36 million) in lost production of 2,800 vehicles from Friday's work stoppage, he said.
