Industry officials said April 22 that tensions at POSCO have reached an unprecedented level after the company presented detailed guidelines for directly hiring 7,000 workers from partner firms.
Under the roadmap, the new hires will be placed in a newly created “Operations Synergy (S)” job category. Pay will be set across seven grades. The plan also includes a 400% bonus and, when the company posts a profit, a management performance bonus of at least 800%.
Both unions have voiced strong objections. The subcontractor union says the plan lacks clear standards for years of service, which would be used to calculate bonuses and performance pay. The prime contractor union argues that recognizing subcontractor workers’ experience could disrupt existing promotion order and undermine fairness in personnel decisions.
Hyundai Steel’s union is also moving to secure the right to strike, including by applying for mediation at the National Labor Relations Commission, as it demands a special performance bonus at the same level as Hyundai Motor and Kia.
Shipbuilding is facing similar friction. Subcontractor unions at shipyards are pressuring management, citing the Yellow Envelope law, to match not only wages but also performance bonuses with those of prime contractor workers. The prime contractor and subcontractor unions at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (the union’s branch and local chapter under the metalworkers’ union) held a news conference at Ulsan City Hall on April 22, saying the company unilaterally changed the performance-bonus payment date, leaving some subcontractor workers who retired at mandatory retirement age unable to receive it. They demanded immediate payment of unpaid year-end performance bonuses to subcontractor workers.
The metalworkers’ union’s Welliv chapter, which represents workers at Hanwha Ocean’s in-house food service contractor, has also requested direct talks with management over performance-bonus payments.
Companies say the growing labor-labor conflict is adding to management burdens. They warn that disputes could expand beyond wages and working conditions into business decisions such as new investment, outsourcing operations and organizational restructuring. They also fear that if prime contractor and subcontractor unions demand bargaining at the same time, decision-making will slow, increasing the risk of production disruptions, delivery delays and workplace confusion.
Jeong Yeon-seung, a professor of business administration at Dankook University, said protecting workers’ rights is important, but the country must also consider the competitiveness of entire industries, not just individual companies. “As global competition intensifies, strategic industries must grow enough to secure competitiveness for both companies and workers to expect sustainable growth,” he said.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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