It was confirmed that the will of employees to "block a strike at all costs" was behind the agreement between HMM labor and management, which had been in conflict over the transfer of the headquarters to Busan. With only a general strike left after responding with an application for mediation to the Labor Relations Commission and filing criminal complaints against the CEO, the union withdrew the announced strike through a vote of its members and moved to reach an agreement.
According to the shipping industry on the 30th, the HMM Land-based Employees Labor Union (HMM union) held a briefing for members on the 24th regarding the transfer of the headquarters to Busan and conducted a two-day vote on the transfer agreement for the headquarters to Busan from the 27th. About 85% of roughly 750 members participated in the vote, and about 90% of them approved the agreement.
HMM labor and management were scheduled to participate in the second mediation by the Central Labor Relations Commission that day. Nine days later, an extraordinary shareholders' meeting was set to be held to table an agenda item to change the registered headquarters location to Busan. Because of this, if the vote had rejected acceptance of the agreement, the process would have moved to a breakdown in mediation and a general strike. This point was emphasized during the briefing as well.
About 600 members, roughly 80% of the entire membership, attended a general assembly and resolution rally on the 2nd to oppose the transfer of the headquarters, showing strong opposition to the headquarters transfer.
If a strike began, not only loading and exports but also vessel arrivals and departures could not proceed, making it impossible for all 145 ships in the fleet to operate normally. It was a situation that could trigger a breakdown of trust with shippers and a crisis in shipping alliances.
The union judged that even if it enforced a no-transfer stance through a strike, it would be inevitable that the company would suffer irreparable damage, and ultimately chose not to take the path to a dead end. In particular, deciding the detailed scale and timing of the headquarters transfer through labor-management agreement was understood to be a main reason the union agreed to the headquarters transfer.
Under the agreement that day, the union plans to withdraw its application for mediation to the Central Labor Relations Commission and collectively drop the criminal complaints against HMM CEO Choi Won-hyuk. Jeong Seong-cheol, head of the HMM union chapter, said, "There were many concerns among members, but we reached an agreement from a broader perspective," adding, "We will withdraw the measures taken to respond to the headquarters transfer and begin talks based on mutual trust."
After announcing the agreement that day, CEO Choi Won-hyuk told reporters, "While internal plans for the scale and timing of the transfer have been prepared, we will proceed through labor-management agreement," and added, "With this labor-management agreement today, we will work together to overcome the crisis stemming from the Middle East going forward."