Hankook Tire to raise average wages in Hungary by 13.6 pct (updated)

Hankook Tire & Technology

06/03/2019 13:29

(Adds detail, comments from union)
    BUDAPEST, March 6 (Reuters) - Hankook Tire  161390.KS  will
raise average wages at its Hungarian unit by 13.6 percent from
the start of 2019, it said on Wednesday, joining other major car
sector companies forced into double-digit pay rises by a
shortage of workers.
    The South Korean company, which employs 3,300 people at a
factory making tyres for cars and smaller trucks near the
central Hungarian town of Dunaujvaros, said in a statement that
the increase would be retroactive to January 1.
    The car sector accounts for nearly a third of manufacturing
output in Hungary and is a major driver of exports and economic
growth. The unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in the November to
January period, slightly up from a record low a month earlier.
    Hankook's announcement follows a two-hour warning strike at
the factory by the VDSZ union early on Wednesday to demand an 18
percent increase in salaries.
    VDSZ chairman Tamas Szekely said it was too early to tell
whether the union or the workers it represents would find the
raise sufficient.
    He said talks with Hankook would continue later in the day
as the union has also demanded an increase in fringe benefits.
    German premium car maker Daimler  DAIGn.DE  agreed with
unions in December wage rises of 22 percent for 2019 and 13
percent for 2020 for most workers.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1YB3RR
    In January, Audi  NSUG.DE , a member of the Volkswagen group
 VOWG_p.DE , agreed with unions an 18 percent wage hike for 2019
after a week-long strike paralysed its giant factory in the
western town of Gyor.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1ZU6X7

 (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; editing by Jason Neely and Jan
Harvey)
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