HMM, Final Negotiation Next Week... Strike Turning Point

4th Round of Maritime Union Wage and Working Conditions Negotiations on the 11th
If Talks Fail, Application for Central Labor Relations Commission Dispute Mediation

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] HMM, the largest domestic deep-sea container shipping company, is facing continued difficulties in wage and collective bargaining negotiations (wage negotiations), and the outcome of next week's final negotiation is expected to be a turning point for future strikes.

According to the shipping industry on the 6th, the HMM Maritime Union will hold the 4th round of negotiations with management on the 11th. The Maritime Union has demanded a 25% wage increase to normalize wages that have been frozen for 8 years in the previous three rounds of negotiations, but management proposed a 5.5% increase, failing to narrow the gap in views.

The Maritime Union is determined to achieve wage normalization this year, which is recording record-high performance, and plans to immediately apply for dispute mediation with the Central Labor Relations Commission (CLRC) if the final negotiation next week fails. This is to jointly respond to the CLRC mediation proposal with the HMM Land Union, which concluded negotiations last month, and will proceed until the 19th.

However, since the CLRC is likely to propose a compromise in which both labor and management take a step back, both unions are keeping open the option of conducting a strike vote if it is judged difficult to achieve wage normalization.

The union side is considering first stopping overtime work by maritime workers as a strike procedure. This is a strategy to protect legal rights by halting operations that exceed the prescribed overtime standards while pressuring management.

Management also recognizes the need for an appropriate wage increase, fearing a sharp decline in performance and a worsening 'logistics crisis' for domestic export companies if a strike occurs.

However, the industry widely analyzes that HMM, which jointly manages funds with creditors such as KDB Industrial Bank, will find it difficult to accept the double-digit wage increase rate demanded by the union. This is because even if HMM President Bae Jae-hoon and executives decide on this year's wage increase plan, it will be impossible if the creditors do not approve it.

In particular, the Industrial Bank, which holds 24.9% of HMM shares, has the position that strengthening internal capabilities to become a global shipping company is a priority, as the government has injected more than 3 trillion won in public funds for shipping industry reconstruction.

Jeon Jeong-geun, chairman of the HMM Maritime Union, said, "Headquarters seafarers receive pay based on 209 working hours and 104 fixed overtime hours, but the actual working hours exceed this, and poor working conditions continue," adding, "The Industrial Bank does not recognize the impact of strikes in the shipping industry on the national economy and still remains inert."