POSCO工会设定9月9日谈判最后期限，若无新方案将发动48小时部分罢工

The POSCO labor union said on the 27th that it has set September 9 as its effective final deadline for wage negotiations and will launch a 48-hour partial strike unless management makes a decisive move.
The union, affiliated with the Korean Metal Workers' Federation under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, said in a press release that it had made a final decision to stage its first industrial action, in the form of a 48-hour partial strike, after watching management's negotiating stance and any additional offers through September 9. "If management demands sacrifices only from the shop floor, we will act without wavering," the union said, while adding that it would "keep the door to dialogue open until the very end."
The union stressed that the dispute goes beyond a simple push for higher pay and is aimed at correcting working conditions on the shop floor, including chronic staff shortages, long working hours and inadequate safety and welfare measures. It said it had demanded the creation of a binding "special committee on self-sustaining safety" involving both labor and management as a core item in this year's collective bargaining, but criticized management for insisting on maintaining only the existing advisory-level safety consultative body. The union also argued that a push for direct hiring without adequate preparation has heightened anxiety among existing employees over their benefits, and that limited capacity and staffing at the industrial safety and health center are threatening workers' right to health.
The union also took aim at how management has handled the talks. It expressed displeasure that management had publicly disclosed a simple total figure of 1.4 trillion won ($1 billion) while leaving out the background to the demands and the process of adjusting them, framing the union as making excessive cost demands.
In this year's wage talks, the union has called for a 7.1% increase in base pay, incentive pay equal to 600% of monthly wages, 50 shares of employee stock and holiday bonuses equal to 200% of monthly wages. The union argues such compensation is warranted because management has cited the downturn to withhold employee rewards while continuing large-scale investment in new businesses. POSCO, for its part, has balked, saying that meeting all of the union's demands would require about 1.4 trillion won, twice the amount sought last year.
The POSCO union secured the legal right to strike on the 18th when the National Labor Relations Commission decided to halt mediation. In a strike vote held on the 8th and 9th of last month, 92.17% of members voted in favor. If a strike goes ahead, it would break a 58-year record without labor disputes since POSCO was founded in 1968. Even after mediation broke down, the two sides have failed to find common ground, with the union demanding that main negotiations proceed and management insisting that working-level talks come first.
Meanwhile, POSCO management said on the 27th, in response to the union's warning of a first partial strike, that it "will work until the very end to reach a resolution through dialogue."