HMM Labor and Management Hold Final Negotiations on 1st... Strike Turning Point

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The labor and management representatives of HMM, the largest domestic shipping company, are conducting final negotiations on wages and collective agreements (wage and collective agreement) on the 1st.

According to the industry, HMM President Bae Jae-hoon, Kim Jin-man, chairman of the land labor union, and Jeon Jeong-geun, chairman of the maritime labor union, will begin additional negotiations at 2 p.m. at HMM headquarters in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Both sides continued discussions through last month's wage and collective agreement and the Central Labor Relations Commission mediation meeting but failed to reach an agreement.

It is expected that the labor and management will conduct more specific discussions on the wage increase proposal during the final negotiations. Since the land labor union approved a strike vote the day before (with a 97.88% approval rate), the land and maritime unions can push for strikes or other collective actions at any time, thereby increasing their bargaining power.

In particular, the maritime labor union has already received resignation letters from more than 300 union members and plans to submit these to management and jointly initiate collective actions with the land labor union if negotiations break down.

Currently, the management side has proposed a revised plan through consultations with creditors, including an 8% wage increase, a 300% bonus, and an additional 200% incentive payment after the year-end settlement. On the other hand, the two unions officially demand wage normalization after an eight-year freeze, claiming a 25% wage increase and a 1200% performance bonus, so the gap remains.

However, recently both sides have shown signs of stepping back, leaving the possibility of a dramatic last-minute agreement open. The HMM land and maritime unions had planned to hold a joint press conference immediately after the land union’s strike vote approval but postponed it to the 2nd, the day after negotiations.

The management also planned to hold an online press briefing with President Bae attending in person on the 27th at 3 p.m. on the 15th floor of HMM headquarters but canceled it temporarily, judging it could become an obstacle to negotiations. The government is also showing its intention to act as a mediator behind the scenes to prevent the worst logistics chaos caused by a strike.

The results of the negotiations are expected to be announced by the evening at the latest. Since the land and maritime union chairpersons have been granted full authority from union members regarding the negotiations, the procedure for union member voting on the tentative agreement can be omitted. Previously, at the end of last year, after more than nine hours of meetings on December 31, a tentative agreement including a 2.8% wage increase was reached ahead of the new year.

An HMM official said, "The union side has stated that they will actively engage in negotiations if management presents a progressive proposal," adding, "HMM management will also proceed with labor-management agreement with the most open attitude, fearing logistics chaos."

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