23rd Wage and Collective Bargaining Agreement Ends in 30 Minutes
The conflict between labor and management at Hyundai Steel over the scale of performance bonuses is expected to drag on. Although both sides opened the door to dialogue with the lifting of the workplace closure and the end of the union strike, they have failed to find common ground on the performance payment plan.
According to Hyundai Steel on the 13th, the 23rd wage and collective bargaining agreement (wage and collective agreement) held that morning ended in deadlock within 30 minutes of opening.
After more than two months of guerrilla-style strikes and the company's first-ever workplace closure since its founding, both sides had shown willingness to negotiate when the management lifted the workplace closure on the 12th. Based on this, there was a prevailing expectation that the 23rd wage and collective agreement would feature a proposal with a larger scale of performance payments than the one presented in the 22nd agreement.
However, the management did not present any additional payment plan, and in response, the union is expected to immediately resume the strike. The management regards the 'basic salary 450% + 10 million KRW' plan proposed in the 22nd agreement as the effective negotiation limit.
The management had implemented the company's first-ever workplace closure in response to the union's refusal to accept this plan. The union insists that the largest-ever performance bonus, such as 'basic salary 500% + 18 million KRW,' must be paid.
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