Korean Air Union Delegates This Year's Labor Agreement Proposal to Management... "As a Measure of Shared Sacrifice"

President Woo Ki-hong Visited the Union Last Week
"Job Retention, Repayment for Business Normalization"

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The Korean Air labor union has delegated the decision on this year's wage increase to the company as part of sharing the pain to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.

According to the aviation industry on the 6th, the Korean Air union conveyed this intention during a visit by Korean Air President Woo Ki-hong to the union last week.

The Korean Air union emphasized, "Since the decision on this year's wage increase has been delegated to the management, there should be no disadvantages such as future restructuring or wage reductions," adding, "The sacrifices made in sharing the pain together must never be forgotten." Additionally, the union pointed out issues with the wage peak system and discussed improvement measures with the management at this meeting.

President Woo responded to the union's decision by stating, "We will prioritize employment retention efforts and will reward employees' hard work once management is normalized," according to reports. He also pledged to do his best to ensure job stability through measures such as extending paid leave. Korean Air plans to maintain paid leave by paying allowances on its own even after the government's employment retention subsidy ends.

Meanwhile, separately, the Korean Air pilots' union is scheduled to begin negotiations on last year's wages and this year's collective bargaining from mid-month. It is reported that the pilots' union is considering whether to propose a wage increase or delegate the decision in this round of negotiations.

Previously, the pilots' union had delegated the 2019 wage adjustment to the company, considering the difficulties faced by the aviation industry last year. The pilots' union plans to prepare a courtesy meeting as soon as President Woo returns from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting currently underway in Boston, USA, this week.

An aviation industry official predicted, "Since the Korean Air union froze wages once last year due to the COVID-19 crisis, a slight increase considering this year's inflation rate is expected."