POSCO's union members reject tentative wages deal

The margin of defeat was relatively thin though it seems certain that both union leadership and POSCO management will have been surprised at the result, the two sides having lauded the deal on October 30 that led the union to call off an "indefinite strike" planned to start on November 2, also as reported.

The turnout for the vote on Saturday was over 97% of unionized workers, with the vote tally showing 4,744 votes (51.69%) against accepting the deal, and 4,433 votes (48.31%) in favour.  "We will probably need to open renegotiations as there were many opposing votes," Korea's Yonhap news quoted a union official as saying.

This is a certainty. "We take the rejection of the first tentative agreement with great seriousness and will resume negotiations and disputes," said Kim Sung-ho, chairman of POSCO's union. Kim thanked the members who had supported the tentative agreement but also pledged to "humbly accept" the intentions of those who opposed it, Steel & Metal News quotes him as saying.

The rejection raises the possibility of further labour action, adding uncertainty to POSCO's operations and potentially affecting customers and suppliers across the steel industry.

The continuation of the dispute has also raised concerns about its potential implications for the local economies of the two cities hosting POSCO steel works, namely Pohang, on Korea's east coast and Gwangyang on the southern coast. The mayor of Pohang, Park Yong-seon, had been especially vocal ahead of the two earlier strikes the union had staged, warning that the dispute would directly harm the local economy and businesses that depend on POSCO.

Among the 52% who rejected the agreement, their reasons are unclear though one could be that they thought their demands were too modest for a company whose operating profits for the July-September quarter alone had been projected at KRW 790 billion.

For example, just the day before Saturday's vote, union workers at Samsung Biologics Co, the bio arm of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest business conglomerate, began a three-week partial strike for higher wages and an overhaul of the company's HR policies.

The members have demanded the company increase their base pay by 9.5% and distribute 15% of its operating profit in performance-tied incentives, according to Yonhap, demands that were considerably more strident than those of POSCO's union. The Samsung Bio industrial action is scheduled to run through till November 27.

Written by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com