Auto Workers in Generation War over Retirement Age

The labor unions of Korea's three major car manufacturers Hyundai, Kia and GM Korea filed a petition to the National Assembly on Wednesday to push back the retirement of workers.

But young staff at the automakers then wrote to Cheong Wa Dae saying they oppose the theory.

The unions insist a later retirement is inevitable because of longer life expectancy and a rapidly aging population. However the young employees argue it would squeeze jobs available for young persons even tighter amid record youth unemployment.

With the transition to electric vehicles, job cuts on production lines look increasingly inevitable, and today the issue has divided staff along generational lines.

The unions have persistently demanded raising the retirement age from 60 to 65, when personnel become qualified to receive the national pension. "When persons are forced to retire at a physically active age, they face greater financial pressure in later age, and we expect a shortage of labor in future as a result of low birthrate," the unions wrote. "Companies can create more value-added products with a practiced labor force."

However, a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website the very next day opposed the change. The individual who wrote it discovered himself a worker on the production line at among the three car manufacturers.

"What we are looking for is people who can cope with changes due to green vehicles," he wrote. "The unions aren't prepared for the new technologies but are just interested in self-preservation by promoting themselves as experienced and seasoned workers. They now demand a change in the retirement age for seniors, but that will only make it difficult for companies to hire new and capable employees and cause more youth unemployment."

The petition by the labor unions has garnered 10,000 signatures and the Cheong Wa Dae one 1,300.

Kim Yong-jin at Sogang University said, "Changes to the retirement are an issue that requires serious discussions in the age of rapidly aging population. However, in the auto industry, where jobs are vanishing, there's bound to be conflict between young and old. If the retirement is pushed back without employment flexibility, it'll only put a larger burden on both management and teenagers."