450 Million KRW Encouragement Payment... Company States "Highest Wage Increase in the Same Industry"
Union to Hold All-Member Vote on the 8th
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries labor and management have tentatively agreed on this year's wage and collective bargaining agreement, centered on a base salary increase of 129,000 KRW.
According to the tentative agreement reached at the 30th negotiation held on the 6th at the Ulsan headquarters, the base salary will be increased by 129,000 KRW, including the step increase of 35,000 KRW, and a bonus of 4.5 million KRW (including 500,000 KRW in gift certificates) will be paid. The holiday travel allowance for Lunar New Year and Chuseok will each be increased by 200,000 KRW.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries exterior. Provided by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries [Image source=Yonhap News]
The tentative agreement is the result after 155 days since the initial meeting on June 4. The union plans to hold a vote among all members on the 8th regarding this tentative agreement. If the majority of voting members approve, this year's wage and collective bargaining negotiations will conclude.
Labor and management had sharply opposed each other over the scale of this year's wage increase. The union demanded a larger base salary increase than last year's 127,000 KRW, considering the shipbuilding industry's boom, but the management proposed expanding the size of performance bonuses or encouragement payments rather than the base salary. As the gap in positions did not narrow, the union launched its first partial strike on August 28 and carried out a total of 24 partial strikes. Injuries occurred due to labor-management clashes, leading to mutual lawsuits and complaints.
However, it is reported that both sides reached an agreement as they shared concerns that such conflicts might cause them to miss the rare shipbuilding boom. The fact that Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, two of the shipbuilding 'Big 3' (HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, Samsung Heavy Industries), concluded their collective bargaining in September and last month, respectively, also seems to have played a role.
The management's position is that this increase effectively sets the tentative agreement at the highest level in the same industry. The wage increase is larger than Samsung Heavy Industries (base salary increase of 121,526 KRW and bonus of 3 million KRW) and Hanwha Ocean (base salary increase of 117,404 KRW and bonus of 3.7 million KRW).
An HD Hyundai Heavy Industries official said, "Labor and management agreed that negotiations should not be delayed any further into the new year," adding, "We have prepared the best proposal the company can offer and expect the union members to make a wise decision."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
