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| Members of Korea Confederation of Trade Union POSCO Chapter poses with lawmakers during their launching ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sept. 17. / Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
POSCO is facing growing risks associated with its labor unions as unionized workers vow to stage a full-scale protest against management, following the dismissal of several union leaders.
This came several days after the company fired three union members who allegedly used violence during the process of forging unions in the company, which had none until September.
Industry analysts said Thursday the company will likely see more conflicts between the management and its unions and that will be an unprecedented burden for its management.
According to POSCO and its unions, the company recently held a human resources committee on five leaders of the Korea Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU) POSCO Chapter and fired three of them, including chapter head Han Dae-jeong.
The decision came after they allegedly exercised violence while taking notebooks from a POSCO office in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, in September. At the time, the KCTU explained that they did so in order to acquire "evidence" of the management's alleged attempt to disrupt employees from forging unions.
Police started investigating them later in the month, and recently handed them over to the prosecution seeking an indictment.
POSCO said that it has no prejudice against a certain union and decided to sack them "in compliance with the law and principles," adding that it will not tolerate any violence, burglary or any kind of illegalities.
However, the chapter expressed their strong opposition to the decision, saying they did not use violence.
"The management attempted to prevent employees from forging the union, and the members tried to find evidence of it," the chapter said in a statement.
"It seems that the company punished them in order to deflate the influence of the union. We will continue to fight until the management withdraws the unfair punishment and will gather signatures to save our coworkers."
Citing the content of the notebook, the KCTU Chapter has filed a suit against POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo and other senior executives of the company.
POSCO has been run virtually without a union for the past five decades. In 1988, 24,000 workers at POSCO tried to organize a union. However, they failed to do so because of alleged government surveillance and management interference.
In the wake of the labor-friendly Moon Jae-in administration, the KCTU POSCO Chapter was established in September, followed by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) POSCO Chapter. The KCTU and the FKTU are the country's two main umbrella unions.
Upon their establishment, the two umbrella unions clashed over which will represent POSCO, stirring controversy over their cause. The FKTU Chapter won the representative status.
