A group of contract workers in the automotive industry has partly won their class action suit against Hyundai Motor. The company had previously designated them as nonregular workers.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled Thursday that the plaintiffs ― 994 employees of subcontractors for Hyundai Motor ― are to be regarded as employees “directly hired by Hyundai Motor.”

Though the 994 workers have been working alongside Hyundai Motor’s regular workers at assembly lines, their labor contracts were through the company’s subcontractors.

As a result, the plaintiffs suffered from discrimination in terms of job security and wages.

The court, however, partly accepted the plaintiffs’ demand that the automaker provide them with delinquent wages, with the workers initially asking for 58 billion won ($55.7 million). In its verdict, it acknowledged 23.1 billion won of the 58 billion won.

The union for nonregular workers at Hyundai Motor said in a statement that it would call on the company to give them into regular employee status “under the court’s ruling.”

Over the past three years, some of the plaintiffs were dismissed and indicted on charges of leading illicit walkouts.

Hyundai Motor said that “irrespective of the ruling, the company has already changed the status of more than 2,000 nonregular workers.”

The automaker added that it would expand the internal policy to offer nonregular workers more favorable labor conditions.

Hyundai Motor and its labor union have recently agreed to hire 4,000 contract workers as regular employees by the end of 2015.

Under the agreement, the change in status mostly affects workers from subcontractors at plants in Jeonju and Asan.

Nonregular workers in Ulsan have yet to reach an agreement, as they are demanding that the company hire all 5,500 contract workers as full-time employees.

In a vote conducted in August, 66 percent of 429 subcontracted workers belonging to the Jeonju and Asan plant union accepted the final agreement, according to Hyundai Motor’s regular workers’ union.

The settlement also calls for the contract workers’ union to drop all pending lawsuits against the company.

Meanwhile, a similar ruling on other Hyundai Motor contract workers are slated for this Friday at the Seoul Central District Court.

Thursday’s verdict is projected to affect disputes at other major conglomerates including Samsung and LG.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)