Labor Board Says Hyundai Must Bargain With Subcontracted Workers on Industrial Safety, but Not Car Sales Staff

South Korea’s labor board drew a line between Hyundai Motor’s dealership sales workers and other subcontracted workers, rejecting the former’s claim to bargain directly with the automaker while widening safety negotiations for the latter.

The National Labor Relations Commission said Hyundai did not qualify as the employer of car sales staff, known as “car masters,” who work for separate businesses operating under dealership contracts. It upheld the initial decision by the Ulsan Regional Labor Relations Commission after four hearings that began on Aug. 10.

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Hyundai argued that its material control was weak because car masters worked in physically separate spaces.

For other groups, including in-house subcontractors and cafeteria, security, and guarding workers, the commission found that Hyundai had to negotiate on industrial safety. The initial ruling had limited the bargaining agenda to the provision of medical rooms and rest areas. The latest decision expanded it to industrial safety generally, including matters raised by in-house subcontracted unions.

The unions had also sought talks on union activities, strike protections, work stoppage rights, facility improvements, wages, bonuses, holidays, and rest periods. Those demands were not accepted. Park Hyun-hee, deputy head of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union legal office, criticized the treatment of car sales workers, saying Hyundai argued that their work in physically separate spaces weakened its control. Park said the workers remain dependent on Hyundai through work instructions and computer systems, similar to call-center workers whose workplaces are separated from the main company. The commission did not accept that argument.

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Like workers who operate under the control of a parent company while working separately, car masters also work under Hyundai’s instructions and computer systems.