The union of POSCO, the country's largest steelmaker, has set Sept. 9 as the de facto final deadline for this year's labor talks and said it will launch a 48-hour partial strike if management does not present an additional offer. If it leads to an actual strike, it will break POSCO's 58-year no-strike record since its founding.
POSCO's union said on the 27th that it "plans to enter phased industrial action, including the scheduled first partial strike, after watching management's bargaining stance and any additional offer through Sept. 9." If there is no change in management's position after the 48-hour partial strike, it plans to ratchet up the level of action.
Last month, the union won 92.2% approval in a strike ballot with 97.09% member turnout. On the 18th, it secured the legal right to strike through a Central Labor Relations Commission decision to "cease mediation." At the time, the union said it would not strike immediately and would continue additional talks, but as the gap between labor and management did not narrow afterward, it finalized a plan for a 48-hour partial strike.
In this year's wage talks, the union is demanding a 7.1% increase in base pay, a 600% bonus, 50 shares in the employee stock ownership plan, and a 200% holiday bonus, among other items. POSCO, on the other hand, has expressed reluctance, saying it would require about 1.4 trillion won to accept all of the union's demands. It says it is difficult to accept given the deteriorating steel market due to a flood of low-priced steel from China and the spread of protectionism.
The union objected to management converting the entire set of demands into "1.4 trillion won" and disclosing it publicly. It said management highlighted only the total amount that adds up wage, welfare, safety, and workforce-related demands that could be adjusted during bargaining. The union said, "Bargaining is not a process of putting a price tag on the other side's demands and releasing it to public opinion, but a process of examining the reasons behind the demands, narrowing differences, and finding a point of agreement."
Beyond wages and performance compensation, the union is demanding improvements on workforce shortages, long working hours, and safety issues. It argues that staffing shortages and long hours on the shop floor have persisted for a long time, and that the industrial safety and health center also lacks facilities and personnel, creating gaps in safety management. It included in its demands the establishment of a "Self-sustaining Safety Special Committee" in which labor and management participate together and which has practical binding force.
The union side said, "Breaking the 58-year record without labor disputes cannot be the purpose of a labor union," adding, "Rather, because we value that history more than anyone, we are giving management time for a final decision." It added, "We will keep the door to dialogue open until the end, but if management once again demands only sacrifice from the shop floor, we will act without wavering."