Hyundai Steel signed a principal–subcontractor collective agreement with unions and management at four subsidiaries. It is the first case of principal and subcontractor unions and management reaching a collective agreement through bargaining since the enforcement of the revised Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, known as the "yellow envelop bill."
On the 10th, according to Hyundai Steel, the principal company Hyundai Steel and unions and management at four subsidiaries—Hyundai ITC, Hyundai IEC, Hyundai IMC and Hyundai ISC—signed the "2026 principal–subcontractor bargaining agreement" at the Dangjin plant that day and concluded a principal–subcontractor collective agreement.
A Hyundai Steel official said, "Based on mediation by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), we reached a peaceful, no-strike agreement with the four subsidiary unions through a labor-management-government consultative body without disputes," adding, "With the principal–subcontractor bargaining agreement, we laid the foundation for sustainable co-growth and the creation of a safe work environment."
This agreement is the first case agreed upon by principal and subcontractor unions and management since the revised law took effect on Mar. 10. The revised law recognizes as an employer a business owner who, even without directly signing a labor contract, is in a position to substantially and specifically control or determine working conditions.
Starting with a kickoff meeting on the 20th of last month, Hyundai Steel has conducted negotiations by each bargaining unit. Earlier, the Labor Relations Commission decided to separate the bargaining units for the four Hyundai Steel subsidiary unions and the unions affiliated with in-house partner firms. Hyundai Steel held a total of four bargaining sessions. The talks centered on industrial safety agendas where Hyundai Steel's employer status was recognized. The subsidiaries' management also took part in the discussions.
Hyundai Steel and the subsidiaries' unions and management finally agreed to continuously improve the subsidiaries' industrial safety and health management systems and to establish a roadmap as a mid- to long-term improvement plan to raise industrial safety and health standards. The ministry supported working-level consultations between labor and management during the bargaining process and presided over labor-management-government meetings.
Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, "The conclusion of this collective agreement is a meaningful opportunity for Hyundai Steel business sites to become safer through dialogue between principal and subcontractors."
Meanwhile, the Seosan branch of the Daejeon District Court on the 9th acquitted the Hyundai Steel corporation and its former CEO, who were indicted on charges of deploying replacement workers during a union strike in 2021. Hyundai Steel was brought to trial in January on charges of deploying about 1,500 replacement workers after the non-regular workers' chapter went on strike from August to October 2021.
The court noted, "This case must apply the law before the revision," adding, "For Hyundai Steel at the time to qualify as the employer of the partner firms' workers, it should have entered into direct labor contracts with those workers, and it is difficult to see that such facts have been proven."