An estimated 130,000 workers at 211 companies nationwide will stage a one-day strike on Friday, complying with an umbrella labor group’s call for improved working conditions, labor unionists said Thursday.

The 211 firms, which include the nation’s top automakers ― Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., and GM Korea Co. ― are all affiliated with the country’s largest industrial union, the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, which has about 170,0000 workers in the local automobile, steel, machinery and shipping sectors.

Launching its first collective labor action in four years, the KMWU said it will go on a four-hour nationwide strike to demand a better guarantee of labor rights, root out unfair transactions between companies and subcontractors, abolish the temporary workers system and improve labor conditions.

“The walkout will be a stepping stone for workers to make the slogan ‘We want to live like humans’ come true,” the KMWU said in a release, demanding that the minimum wage in the metal industry be raised from the current 4,670 won ($4.07) per hour to 5,600 won.

The strike plan was approved by about 80 percent of its affiliated workers in a vote held at workplaces nationwide from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to the KMWU.

The KMWU added that it is planning to launch a second round of the general walkout next Friday if their demands are not met. (Yonhap News)