韩国汽车、造船和钢铁行业薪酬谈判及罢工风险升温

As a chain of strikes in the auto industry becomes reality, shipbuilding and steel unions have also brought out strikes as bargaining cards, spreading the risk of a "summer labor offensive" across the industrial sector. In particular, the "N% bonus" model touched off by the semiconductor industry has emerged as the biggest issue in company-level wage and collective bargaining. On top of that, subcontractor unions, which gained bargaining rights following the enforcement of the Yellow Envelope Law in March, are demanding that their treatment be unified with that of primary contractors, causing labor-management conflicts to intensify simultaneously on multiple fronts.
According to the industry on the 15th, Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) union staged a partial strike for a third day, followed by GM Korea, which also began a two-day partial strike starting the same day. The Hyundai Motor union presented management with a set of demands centered on paying bonuses equal to 30% of last year's net profit and raising monthly base pay by 149,600 won (excluding seniority-based increases). Hyundai Motor posted net profit of 10.3648 trillion won last year, meaning that, by the union's demand, a simple calculation would require paying more than 3 trillion won in bonuses. This exceeds the operating profit (2.5147 trillion won) that Hyundai Motor earned in the first quarter of this year.
Management's position is that it is difficult to accept the union's demands, as the earnings outlook is not bright, with first-quarter operating profit this year plunging 30.8% from the same period last year. The Hyundai Motor union is pressuring management, saying it will discuss additional strike plans if management does not present an alternative on the 16th.
The fact that the Hyundai Motor union is also calling on management to enter direct negotiations with non-regular workers is another burdensome point for management. An auto industry official expressed concern, saying, "Management has to deal with numerous demands pouring out sporadically," adding, "In the aftermath of the Yellow Envelope Law's enforcement, union demands could continue to grow."
The dispute stemming from the "N% bonus" is making wage negotiations in the auto industry even more tangled. The Kia (000270.KS) union pressured management in this year's wage bargaining by directly citing Samsung Electronics' bonus model. The union raised its voice, saying, "Samsung reaches wage agreements without strikes and pays 12% of business performance as a special bonus," and, "Management should learn from Samsung's decisiveness." The Kia union declared negotiations broken down after concluding wage and collective bargaining talks with management the same day. The union plans to hold a strike vote among members on the 23rd.
In the shipbuilding industry, labor-management conflict over the size of bonus payments is also intensifying. The union at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea's largest shipbuilder, has demanded that at least 30% of this year's operating profit be paid as bonuses. Subcontractor unions are also known to be demanding the same level of bonus payments. According to financial information provider FnGuide, the consensus (forecast) for HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' operating profit this year is 3.8914 trillion won, meaning that, under the union's demand, about 1.17 trillion won would have to be used as bonus funding.
On the 14th, labor and management at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (329180.KS) held their 12th round of main wage and collective bargaining talks, but only confirmed their differences. The union argues that, as the company posts record earnings amid the shipbuilding super-cycle, the fruits should be shared with workers. Management, however, maintains that it is difficult to expand the compensation system based on short-term earnings alone, considering external variables such as exchange rates and raw material prices, as well as investment to enhance competitiveness.
Hanwha Ocean (042660.KS) is also simultaneously facing the primary contractor union's demand to improve the bonus system and the subcontractor union's demand for direct negotiations. The Wellive branch and others, composed of Hanwha Ocean's catering, commuter bus, and facility management workers, having secured the right to strike, have announced that they will hold a general rally this month before launching a strike struggle in August.
The steel industry, suffering from a prolonged downturn, is also struggling to reach agreement over union demands for bonuses and compensation. The Hyundai Steel union has demanded a base pay increase along with bonuses 150% higher than last year. Management has stated its position that this is difficult to accept, citing the poor industry conditions and deteriorating profitability. Labor and management plan to continue negotiations, but analysts say that with the Hyundai Steel union having already secured the right to strike, strike risk could grow if the deadlock is prolonged.
POSCO, facing simultaneous strike pressure from both primary and subcontractor unions, is confronting a crisis in which its dispute-free tradition, maintained since the company's founding in 1968, could be broken. POSCO held its first meeting with the regular-worker union on the 12th of last month and has since conducted five rounds of negotiations, but has failed to narrow their differences. The POSCO union is also urging management to prepare measures regarding the direct hiring of Pohang and Gwangyang steelworks subcontractors, citing the possibility of worse treatment for regular union members and reduced bonuses.
With gaps between labor and management over bonus and compensation systems failing to narrow across the industrial sector, concerns are spreading that this year's summer labor offensive will drag on longer than in previous years. One industry official said, "In addition to the demands of primary contractor unions, bargaining demands from subcontractor unions are pouring in, making the situation even more complicated," adding, "If tension spreads throughout the entire manufacturing supply chain, a negative impact on the national economy is inevitable."
Labor groups are watching the primary and subcontractor negotiations and pressuring management, saying they could again hold general strikes or large-scale rallies in the second half of the year.