Humanoid robot fears drive Hyundai workers to strike
▼ Summary
– Hyundai auto workers in South Korea began partial strikes after negotiations broke down over plans to deploy humanoid robots, marking the first major labor pushback against such automation in the car industry.
– The strikes include ending shifts two hours early from July 13 to 15 and planning four-hour strikes from July 20 to 22, following 15 failed negotiation rounds.
– Union opposition started after Hyundai unveiled the Atlas humanoid robot, a 6-foot-tall, 100-pound-lifting robot from Boston Dynamics, which Hyundai aims to deploy over 25,000 units in its plants.
– Each Atlas robot costs about $130,000 but could pay for itself in two years; analysts suggest if costs drop to $100,000, operational costs may fall below the US federal minimum wage.
– The union demands include shifting production workers to fixed salaries to protect against automation-related hour reductions, raising the retirement age from 60 to 65, and bigger bonuses.
Thousands of unionized employees at Hyundai Motor Company have begun walking off the job after contract talks with the South Korean automaker collapsed over its plans to introduce humanoid robots into factory operations. This action marks the most significant organized labor pushback yet against the latest wave of robotic automation.
The partial work stoppage at Hyundai’s massive Ulsan automotive complex in South Korea represents “the car industry’s first factory stoppage addressing humanoid robots,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Workers have already cut their day and night shifts short by two hours at the world’s largest automotive plant from July 13 through July 15. They are scheduled to escalate the protest with four-hour strikes from July 20 to 22, following 15 rounds of failed negotiations, as reported by The Korea Times.
Union resistance intensified immediately after Hyundai Motor Group unveiled the latest version of the Atlas humanoid robot earlier this year. The two-legged machine stands over six feet tall and can lift more than 100 pounds. Atlas is manufactured by Boston Dynamics, the U. S. robotics firm that is about to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai.
Hyundai intends to deploy more than 25,000 Atlas robots across its various Hyundai and Kia manufacturing plants, according to The Korea Herald. The company plans to begin with its U. S. factories in 2028 but has not yet disclosed a timeline for expanding to other locations.
Each Atlas robot carries an estimated price tag of $130,000, but it may pay for itself within roughly two years of operation, according to Samsung Securities Co. analyst Esther Yim in a Bloomberg interview. If the robot’s cost eventually drops to $100,000, James Hong at Macquarie Securities Korea Ltd. suggested that its operational cost could fall below the U. S. federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, significantly undercutting a typical auto worker’s salary.
In response, the Hyundai Motor union, which represents more than 39,000 South Korean workers, is demanding that the automaker convert production workers’ hourly pay to a fixed salary to protect against any reduction in work hours caused by automation. The union is also calling for raising the worker retirement age from 60 to 65, along with larger worker bonuses, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
(Source: Ars Technica)
