Both the subcontractor union and the existing regular worker union are pushing back against POSCO's decision to directly hire about 7,000 in-house subcontracted workers at the Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks. The subcontractor union is taking issue with decisions that target only some employees of partner firms, while the regular worker union pointed to a lack of internal communication.
On the 14th, according to the steel industry, the POSCO In-house Subcontractor Gwangyang chapter under the Korean Metal Workers' Union held a rally the previous day at the Gwangyang steelworks condemning the company's direct-hire announcement and delivered a letter of protest to management.
The letter of protest included: ▲ start special talks on conversion to regular positions ▲ directly hire all in-house subcontracted workers ▲ stop discriminatory hiring via separate job categories ▲ dismantle the multi-layered subcontracting structure ▲ stop demands conditioned on filing worker status confirmation lawsuits and on waiving rights.
They argued that POSCO's plan to directly hire 7,000 subcontracted workers neither fulfills its legal responsibility under the Supreme Court ruling nor reflects the form of conversion to regular positions that subcontracted workers have demanded.
POSCO has long been wracked by legal disputes over worker status with in-house subcontracted workers. In-house subcontracted workers at the Gwangyang steelworks filed worker status confirmation (illegal dispatch) lawsuits against POSCO twice, in 2011 and 2016, saying that "the work contracts between partner firms and POSCO are in substance worker dispatch contracts under the Act on the Protection, etc., of Dispatched Workers."
POSCO plans to wrap up the legal disputes related to the worker status lawsuits and conduct special hiring for in-house subcontracted workers at its steelworks, selecting those who wish to apply into the operations synergy job category.
The subcontractor union says this type of job categorization is similar to the hiring method used for in-house subcontracted workers who prevailed under the 2022 Supreme Court ruling, and views it as discriminatory hiring. According to the subcontractor union, the roughly 50 subcontracted workers hired at the time were classified into separate categories—such as production E group and O group—that differ significantly from existing regular workers in wages and wage increase rates.
It also argues that when including second- and third-tier subcontracted workers, POSCO's total number of subcontracted workers reaches about 17,000, and that the company's unilateral plan to directly hire only 7,000 is merely a decision to evade legal responsibility. The union of subcontracted workers says that a hiring plan targeting a limited number of people is intended to weaken the union's bargaining power in practical terms while reducing the responsibility of the primary contractor.
They said, "The company's announcement to directly hire some 7,000 subcontracted workers is nothing but another trick to cover up illegality," adding, "If direct hiring is to occur, it must be a conversion to full regular positions to which the principle of 'equal pay for equal work' applies."
The in-house regular worker union is also expressing dissatisfaction with management's hiring plan. POSCO's representative bargaining union, the Federation of Korean Metalworkers' Trade Unions POSCO Union under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, said in a statement that "the direct hiring of 7,000 subcontracted workers was a decision pushed forward while ignoring the process of building consensus," and "there was no consideration for existing employees or thought for the future."
POSCO is in a position where it must negotiate individually with subcontractor unions that applied for collective bargaining under the decision of the Gyeongbuk Regional Labor Relations Commission: the Federation of Korean Metalworkers' Trade Unions under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Metal Workers' Union, and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) National Plant Construction Workers' Union.
A POSCO official, responding to the subcontractor union's claims, said, "The direct hiring of subcontracted workers is being pursued as part of safety management innovation," adding, "the size of hiring was set by limiting it to duties directly related to operations within the steelworks."
Regarding criticism that communication with regular workers was lacking, the official said, "In the upcoming hiring process, we will continue internal communication and work to alleviate existing employees' concerns."