HYUNDAI MOTOR WORKERS POSTPONE WALKOUT.

SEOUL, Sept. 3 Asia Pulse - Unionists at South Korea's largest carmaker Hyundai Motor voted to launch a strike but postponed the move until next week, their spokesman said Saturday, amid intense public pressure to resolve the wage dispute through negotiations.

The union announced earlier in the day that over 60 per cent of the union's 44,000 members voted to approve the walkout, but senior members decided to delay the strike until Wednesday following the management's request for a new round of negotiations.

The two sides will meet on Monday.

"The union can go on a legitimate strike, but we chose not to do it (until Wednesday) and to make sincere efforts for the negotiations," Chang Kyu-ho said.

"We urge the management to come up with a developed proposal that can win the hearts of union members," he said.

Hyundai and the union have held 10 rounds of formal wage negotiations over the past two months, but little ground has been gained.

The union is demanding an 8.9 per cent pay increase along with the sharing of 30 per cent of the company's 2006 profits with workers. Among other ...