Kia Motors union to stage strike on Thursday

SEOUL, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Unionised workers at Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) will launch a partial strike on Thursday over a wage deal, Kia's union said.

Affiliate Hyundai Motor Co's (005380.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) union also plans to hold partial strikes next week over salary negotiations.

Both day and night shift workers at Kia, the country's No.2 auto maker, plan to stage four-hour walkouts.

"Abiding by the umbrella union's guidance, we decided to stage the strike over impending wage talks with the company," a Kia union spokesman told Reuters by telephone.

Unionised workers at Hyundai plan to stop work for two hours on Aug. 19, for four hours on Aug. 20, six hours on Aug. 21 and six hours on Aug. 22, a union spokesman told Reuters. Union members at GM Daewoo Automotive and Technology Co, the South Korean unit of General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), will also halt production Thursday for six hours on both the day and night shifts over a wage deal.

GM Daewoo's union has launched eight partial strikes since July 8, resulting in about 9,400 vehicles in lost output, a company official said.

Shares in Kia rose 1.14 percent to 13,350 won as of 0146 GMT, while Hyundai fell 1.64 percent to 71,800 won, compared to a 0.15 percent loss in the wider market .KS11.

(Reporting by Park Ju-min and Cheon Jong-woo; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

((jumin.park@reuters.com; +82 2 3704 5644; Reuters Messaging: jumin.park.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: KIA STRIKE/

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