现代制铁开始与分包工会就直接谈判进行工作会谈

Hyundai Steel (004020.KS) has begun working-level meetings for negotiations with a subcontractor labor union, drawing growing attention to whether Hyundai Motor Group's first direct negotiations between a prime contractor and subcontractor will get underway.
According to industry sources on the 23rd, Hyundai Steel and the Hyundai Steel Non-Regular Workers Branch held a working-level meeting on the 14th of this month, premised on direct negotiations. This followed an agreement between management and the subcontractor union to engage in dialogue at a labor-management-government meeting held on the 9th through mediation by the Labor Ministry's Cheonan branch.
Labor and management reportedly showed clear differences over the negotiation agenda at their first working-level meeting. The union's position is that negotiations should broadly cover items such as wages and performance-based pay, job security, welfare, and conversion to regular employment. Management, on the other hand, was said to have expressed reluctance to put on the negotiating table matters other than safety issues, which are subject to negotiation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Hyundai Steel said, "There are differences in positions on various aspects of the negotiations," adding, "We will make efforts to find the most amicable point of agreement possible."
If the negotiations materialize, Hyundai Steel would become the first within Hyundai Motor Group to engage in direct negotiations between a prime contractor and subcontractor since the so-called Yellow Envelope Act took effect in March. However, given the current wide gap between labor and management, some observers say it remains unclear whether actual negotiations will take place. The two sides plan to continue communicating through additional working-level meetings going forward.