POSCO’s Pohang workers to leave umbrella steel union group

One of two labor unions at Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO will leave its umbrella group, the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU), following its unionized workers’ complaints about the KMWU’s growing influence over member companies.

A majority of the steelmaker’s union members at its main plant in the country’s southern port city of Pohang voted for their withdrawal from the KMWU, company officials said on Thursday.

The KMWU, which encompasses Korea’s steel and metal-related companies, is part of the country’s bigger labor union organization, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

In the vote conducted for three days from Monday, 69.9% of the unionized workers at POSCO’s Pohang branch supported the withdrawal plan.

“The KMWU has punished our union leaders appointed by POSCO workers, citing reasons that we don’t understand. The umbrella group wants our leaders to work for it, not for the interest of POSCO employees,” the Pohang workers’ union said in a statement.

Earlier this month, a majority of the unionized workers already voted for their withdrawal from the KMWU, but the umbrella group took issue with the outcome, citing procedural issues, including the shorter-than-required prior notice of the vote.

The KMWU took the case to Korea’s labor ministry, which accepted its claims, forcing the unionized workers at POSCO’s Pohang plant to hold another vote earlier this week.

POSCO workers launched a single union group in 1988, but a corruption scandal involving union leaders led it to disband in 1991.

In 2018, POSCO employees created two union groups within the company – one belonging to the KCTU and the other affiliated with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the highest-level Korean labor organization alongside the KCTU.

POSCO, the steelmaking subsidiary of POSCO Holdings Inc., has two major plants in Korea – one in Pohang and the other in Gwangyang, a city in South Jeolla Province.

Unlike their colleagues at the Pohang plant, unionized workers at POSCO’s Gwangyang plant will remain affiliated with their umbrella organization, KMWU, company officials said.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at Kkm1026@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.