Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. began a three-day partial strike on Monday, halting work for two hours per shift in a dispute over profit-sharing and demands for guarantees that jobs will not be lost to artificial intelligence and robots.
Labor vs. Automation · Hyundai Motor Co.
40,000 Workers Strike as Robots March Toward the Factory Floor
Hyundai's union began a three-day partial walkout — halting production two hours per shift — demanding a bigger slice of profits and, for the first time, explicit guarantees that AI and robots won't take their jobs.
2 hrs
halted per shift, 3 days running
15
rounds of talks collapsed
~40,000
union members involved
The robot roadmap fueling the fear
Hyundai's automation ambitions vs. its planned robot fleet — same unit, drawn to scale (thousands of units).
30,000
annual robot production capacity by 2028
25,000+
robots targeted across operations
Atlas humanoid: the deployment timeline
2028
Full-scale deployment
Begins parts-sequencing at Metaplant America, Georgia
→
2030
Expands to assembly
Moves from logistics into core assembly work
What the union is demanding
~₩3T
~30% of 2025 net income (₩10.3T) as bonuses — about $2B
750% → 800%
higher standard bonus rate
+₩149,600
monthly base pay increase
Age 65
retirement age extension
Plus a first-of-its-kind ask: a voice in AI and robot deployment decisions and explicit job-security guarantees on the factory floor.
Labor's stance
Reports and videos of ever-more-dexterous robots have heightened anxiety over factory jobs as "physical AI" nears real production — hence the push for a share of profits and a say in the pace of change.
Management's stance
Hyundai has expressed regret over the stoppage and called workers back to the bargaining table, with informal talks continuing as the union weighs escalation later in the week.
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