Hyundai Steel announced on the 24th at 12 p.m. that it has decided to partially suspend operations at the cold rolling plant in Dangjin. This is the first time Hyundai Steel has made such a decision since its founding in 1953.
The closed portion is the pickling line/tandem cold mill (PL/TCM), and if this equipment is not operational, it will lead to a lack of materials, making it impossible to operate the downstream processes, thus halting cold-rolled steel production.
Hyundai Steel explained that the decision for a partial workplace closure stemmed from the union's PL/TCM strike, which not only halted that process but also stopped operations across the entire cold rolling line, resulting in significant losses for the company and a decline in customer trust, leading to worsening management conditions.
Hyundai Steel also noted that the decision for this closure has begun after the union's engagement in dispute activities, possessing both defensiveness and substantiality. Defensiveness means that the company must implement it for defensive purposes following the union's dispute activities, while substantiality means there must be significant managerial reasons for the workplace closure.
Hyundai Steel has been experiencing conflicts with the union as wage and collective bargaining negotiations have not reached a resolution since last year. The company proposed a plan that includes a 450% base salary along with a fixed amount of 10 million won, but the union did not accept this.
The company judged that if performance bonuses are paid based on this proposal, it would record a net loss, and thus revised its announcement this morning to reflect a loss of 65 billion won.
Hyundai Steel estimated that this partial workplace closure would result in a production loss of approximately 270,000 tons and that the loss would amount to 25.4 billion won.
Hyundai Steel explained, 'Since the union started an indefinite strike and repeated partial and temporary strikes from the 21st of last month, it has become difficult to secure the entire production schedule, leading to the decision for a partial workplace closure for defensive purposes.'