Hyundai claims humanoid robot plan is not part of talks with striking workers
Hyundai claims humanoid robot plan is not part of talks with striking workers
现代汽车称人形机器人计划并非罢工谈判议题
Hyundai Motor Company’s plan to put humanoid robots to work by 2028 is not part of current negotiations with striking South Korean autoworkers, according to the company. The automaker is disputing news reports that partial labor strikes by the Hyundai Motor union at the world’s largest automotive plant in South Korea were spurred by concerns about the company’s planned deployment of humanoid robots in the United States starting in 2028.
现代汽车公司表示，其计划在2028年前投入使用人形机器人的方案，并不在目前与韩国罢工汽车工人的谈判议题之内。针对有新闻报道称，现代汽车工会在韩国全球最大汽车工厂发起的局部罢工，是由于担忧公司计划于2028年在美国部署人形机器人所致，现代汽车对此予以否认。
A company statement shared with Ars describes the union’s demands as focusing on compensation-related issues such as wage increases, bonuses, and an extension of workers’ retirement age. “Potential deployment of robots in Korean production facilities is not part of the current labor-management discussions,” according to the Hyundai statement. “Hyundai Motor Company remains committed to constructive engagement with the union and to reaching an agreement that supports the long-term interests of both employees and the company.”
现代汽车向《Ars》提供的一份声明中指出，工会的要求主要集中在薪酬相关议题，如加薪、奖金以及延长员工退休年龄等。“在韩国生产设施中部署机器人的可能性，并不在当前的劳资讨论范围内，”声明称，“现代汽车公司始终致力于与工会进行建设性接触，并达成一项支持员工与公司长期利益的协议。”
Hyundai emphasized that its current plan only covers the initial deployment of the Atlas humanoid robot at Metaplant America, an electric vehicle factory near Savannah, Georgia, starting in 2028. “Decisions about future Atlas deployment at other facilities will be made thoughtfully, in accordance with local operational needs, and in dialogue with the employees and workforce representatives at those sites,” the company stated.
现代汽车强调，其目前的计划仅涵盖2028年起在佐治亚州萨凡纳附近的电动汽车工厂“Metaplant America”初步部署Atlas人形机器人。公司表示：“关于未来在其他设施部署Atlas的决定，将根据当地运营需求，并与相关地点的员工及劳工代表进行对话后，审慎做出。”
However, The Wall Street Journal described the Hyundai Motor union as making “unprecedented demands seeking to enshrine job protections in the era of robots and AI,” and characterized certain compensation demands as hedging against potential reductions in work hours caused by AI adoption and robotic automation.
然而，《华尔街日报》描述称，现代汽车工会提出了“前所未有的要求，旨在机器人和人工智能时代确立就业保障”，并将某些薪酬要求定性为对人工智能应用和机器人自动化可能导致工时减少的对冲措施。
The union previously warned Hyundai Motor Company about the need for negotiations after the automaker unveiled the production model of the Atlas humanoid robot at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The Atlas robot was developed by the US company Boston Dynamics, which has become a wholly owned Hyundai subsidiary.
此前，在现代汽车于1月拉斯维加斯消费电子展（CES）上发布Atlas人形机器人量产机型后，工会就曾警告现代汽车公司必须进行谈判。Atlas机器人由美国波士顿动力公司（Boston Dynamics）开发，该公司现已成为现代汽车的全资子公司。
“Remember that without labor-management agreement, not a single robot using new technology will be allowed to enter the workplace,” the union told Hyundai in an internal letter reported by Reuters.
据路透社报道，工会在一封致现代汽车的内部信中表示：“请记住，如果没有劳资双方的协议，任何使用新技术的机器人都不得进入工作场所。”
Hyundai management and the labor union are currently reviewing a proposed wage reform that would “provide factory workers with greater income stability even after the carmaker’s planned deployment of humanoid robots,” The Korea Times reported. But experts cautioned that the wage overhaul, which would convert hourly pay for overtime and night-shift allowances into fixed wages, could come at the expense of company productivity.
据《韩国时报》报道，现代汽车管理层与工会目前正在审查一项薪酬改革方案，该方案旨在“即使在公司计划部署人形机器人后，也能为工厂工人提供更大的收入稳定性”。但专家警告称，这项将加班费和夜班津贴的小时工资转换为固定工资的薪酬改革，可能会以牺牲公司生产力为代价。
The Hyundai Motor union is a branch of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union. Ars has reached out to the Korean Metal Workers’ Union and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions—a national trade union center—for comment on the current labor strike and negotiations.
现代汽车工会是韩国金属工会的一个分支。针对当前的罢工和谈判，《Ars》已联系韩国金属工会及全国性工会组织——韩国民主劳总（KCTU）寻求置评。
The broader wave of labor negotiations over robots
关于机器人劳资谈判的更广泛浪潮
South Korea has seen a wave of union groups seeking negotiations with company management since a new labor law took effect in March 2026, according to Tech Policy Press. The so-called “yellow envelope law” expands labor rights for subcontracted workers and limits employers’ capability to claim damages from unions because of labor strikes.
据《科技政策新闻》（Tech Policy Press）报道，自2026年3月新劳动法生效以来，韩国出现了一波工会组织寻求与公司管理层谈判的浪潮。所谓的“黄色信封法”扩大了分包工人的劳动权利，并限制了雇主因罢工而向工会索赔的能力。
The yellow envelope law may also “slow the transition to robot labor” because it recognizes management decisions that significantly impact working conditions as being subject to collective bargaining and action, The Korea Times reported. That means large-scale automation efforts using robots need to be negotiated with human workers under the law, labor experts told the South Korean newspaper.
据《韩国时报》报道，“黄色信封法”还可能“减缓向机器人劳动的转型”，因为它规定对工作条件有重大影响的管理决策必须经过集体谈判和行动。劳工专家告诉该报，这意味着根据法律，使用机器人的大规模自动化工作必须与人类工人进行协商。
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions also established a joint consultative body with the South Korean government to discuss labor issues, including AI-driven automation and robotics in February 2026. “In this time of major transition, whether these developments become a disaster that forces insecurity and sacrifice onto workers or an opportunity to improve quality of life will largely depend on the government’s choices and policy direction,” the organization said in a statement reported by The Korea Times.
2026年2月，韩国民主劳总还与韩国政府成立了一个联合咨询机构，讨论包括人工智能驱动的自动化和机器人在内的劳工问题。据《韩国时报》报道，该组织在一份声明中表示：“在这个重大转型时期，这些发展是成为迫使工人陷入不安全和牺牲的灾难，还是成为改善生活质量的机遇，很大程度上取决于政府的选择和政策方向。”
The US workers at Hyundai’s Metaplant factory in Georgia—which will be the first facility to use Atlas robots—are not unionized. But United Auto Workers (UAW), the union representing about 400,000 autoworkers across the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, has made efforts to organize the Metaplant workers.
现代汽车位于佐治亚州的Metaplant工厂（将是首个使用Atlas机器人的设施）的美国工人尚未加入工会。但代表美国、加拿大和波多黎各约40万名汽车工人的全美汽车工人联合会（UAW）已努力组织Metaplant的工人。
The US autoworkers union has already pushed back against deployment of specialized industrial robots. During the UAW Constitutional Convention held in Detroit in June 2026, Shawn Fain, president of United Auto Workers, also warned against “the threat of humanoid robotics and mass automation” undermining worker employment and compensation.
美国汽车工会此前已对部署专业工业机器人表示抵制。在2026年6月于底特律举行的UAW宪法大会上，全美汽车工人联合会主席肖恩·费恩（Shawn Fain）也警告称，“人形机器人和大规模自动化的威胁”正在破坏工人的就业和薪酬。
It still remains to be seen if humanoid robots will prove to be the autonomous general-purpose robots that many companies are betting on. Ars previously talked to robotic company founders and executives about the challenges of realizing this vision.
人形机器人是否会被证明是许多公司所押注的自主通用机器人，仍有待观察。《Ars》此前曾与机器人公司创始人和高管探讨过实现这一愿景所面临的挑战。