POSCO union partial strike continues… Concerns over production disruption due to Chuseok holiday

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Shin Chang-yong = As the POSCO labor union's first partial strike since its founding in 1968 overlaps with the Chuseok holiday, concerns are growing about disruptions in steel production.

There was no supply disruption as feared as the company responded by deploying emergency personnel, but concerns about the future situation are gradually growing.

According to the steel industry on the 25th, the POSCO union ended the second partial strike at 7 am on the 21st, after 120 hours (5 days).

The union went on a first partial strike on some lines at the Pohang and Gwangyang steel mills for 48 hours from the 9th to the 11th, followed by a second partial strike from the 16th to the 21st, but failed to reach an agreement with the management.

The union decided to suspend strikes and negotiations from the 22nd to the 2nd of next month in line with the executive election schedule, putting the labor-management standoff to rest for a while.

However, with the Chuseok holiday immediately following, concerns about production disruption due to a shortage of operating personnel are rising again.

This is because if the operation of the hot rolled production line is halted, it may have a knock-on effect on companies that supply automotive steel sheets, home appliances, and construction steel materials.

POSCO explained that there were no problems with operations during the first and second partial strikes by activating available manpower and an emergency response system.

The company explains that when a strike created a vacuum in the workforce, veteran and skilled workers with a high understanding of the field voluntarily contributed to the operation line.

POSCO plans to continue the same emergency response system during this Chuseok holiday and maintain the 24-hour operation of the Pohang Steel Works and Gwangyang Steel Works.

Although the critical situation has been overcome with the deployment of emergency personnel, it is expected that it will be difficult to avoid a production hit if the labor-management conflict escalates into a full-scale strike.

The union is demanding a 7.1% increase in basic salary, 600% incentive bonus, 50 shares of employee stock stock, and 200% holiday bonus.

The company has proposed a 2.0% increase in basic salary, 3.5 million won in encouragement for achieving goals, 500,000 won in local love gift certificates, and an expansion of the range of congratulatory money for long service, but the gap is wide.

POSCO plans to seek a reasonable agreement through future negotiations while maintaining the principle of not compromising with the union's excessive demands.

A POSCO official said, “We will strive to reach a conclusion in negotiations while practicing labor-management coexistence.”