Munsunghyun, Chairman of the Economic and Social Council, Visits POSCO Emphasizing 'Win-Win'

Chairman Moon: "Labor and Management Must Collaborate on Safety, Health, and Environment"
POSCO Contemplates Cooperative Labor-Management Relations Under 'Corporate Citizenship' Management Philosophy

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] It has been confirmed that Moon Sung-hyun, Chairman of the Economic, Social and Labor Council (photo), recently visited POSCO to discuss labor-management relations that can lead to a 'win-win' outcome.

According to the Economic, Social and Labor Council and industry sources on the 7th, Chairman Moon visited POSCO's Pohang Steelworks at the end of July and met with President Jang In-hwa and executives from the Human Resources and Labor Office. President Jang is currently the executive in charge of labor-management relations within the POSCO Group.

POSCO entered the era of multiple unions in 2018 when a union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) was established for the first time, and the union under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) was recognized as the bargaining representative and began union activities. Chairman Moon, having taken note of this, is known to have personally proposed this meeting.

At this meeting, Chairman Moon reportedly stated that labor union activities should change to a relationship where both sides can achieve a win-win outcome going forward. A POSCO official said, "Chairman Moon advised that in the past, union activities focused on struggles over wages, working conditions, and welfare, but now that approach must be surpassed," adding, "He also emphasized that the union and the company must work together on issues related to employee safety, health, and environmental matters."

Chairman Moon's remarks align with the progressive changes in POSCO's labor-management relations since the inauguration of Chairman Choi Jeong-woo. As part of implementing the new management philosophy of 'Corporate Citizenship,' POSCO is considering ways to foster cooperative labor-management relations.

Despite recording a deficit in the second quarter of this year for the first time in its history (on an individual basis), POSCO has established a fundamental principle of no workforce restructuring. Beyond improving worker treatment, last year the company and labor jointly launched the 'Safety Innovation Emergency Task Force (TF)' to prevent the recurrence of safety accidents, drawing attention. Recently, POSCO has been actively listening to the opinions of external experts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.