Reuters - The South Korean unit of General Motors Co said on Tuesday it had agreed to give workers record bonus and incentive payments of 6.5 million won ($6,144) each and hike basic salaries by 4.7 percent under an annual wage deal with its union reached on Monday.
An additional 500,000 won will be given to employees should the company meet its quality targets for the year, a GM Korea spokesman said on Tuesday.
GM Korea has around 17,000 employees including 10,000 factory workers, a spokesman said, without disclosing how much the company would pay in total under the agreement.
The deal came after GM Korea workers resumed production on Monday after staging a partial strike last week and a complete work stoppage over the weekend, leading to a production loss of 9,700 vehicles, the company said.
It was the union's first strike in three years and underlined the risks facing one of the U.S. automaker's major production bases.
GM Korea produces a quarter of GM's Chevrolet cars sold globally, and 98 percent of cars such as the Cruze compact and the Aveo subcompact sold in Europe. China is also a major export market for GM Korea's complete knock-down kits.
The record payout "reflects that we swung to a big profit last year, and successfully launched the Chevrolet brand and new products this year," the spokesman said.
GM Korea swung to a net profit of 585.6 billion won last year, its first annual net profit in three years, according to regulatory filings.
South Korea's third-biggest car maker behind Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors has moved aggressively to boost sales in Korea this year after changing its brand from GM Daewoo to Chevrolet in March and launching a range of new models.
