POSCO Notifies Recommended Resignation Again to Union Executive Reinstated by Supreme Court Ruling

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] It has been revealed that a union official at POSCO, who was reinstated after being dismissed, has been notified of a recommended resignation again.

According to the POSCO branch of the Metal Workers' Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions on the 30th, POSCO held a personnel disciplinary committee on the 20th and on the 27th notified Han Dae-jeong, Senior Vice Chairman of the Metal Workers' Union POSCO branch, of a recommended resignation.

If the recommended resignation is not accepted within 7 days, the person will be automatically dismissed by disciplinary action.

The company stated the reason for the disciplinary action as "unauthorized intrusion into company facilities to steal documents and committing violence against employees who tried to stop it," adding, "This is an unprecedented serious misconduct with extreme severity and intentionality, violating company regulations and damaging dignity."

They further added, "He followed and threatened company executives' vehicles and assaulted company employees at the shareholders' meeting in February 2019."

However, Senior Vice Chairman Han said, "Regarding the facility intrusion and assault cases, the Supreme Court ruled for reinstatement," and "The incidents of following executives' vehicles and assaulting company employees at the shareholders' meeting that occurred afterward were unilateral claims without any reports or accusations, so disciplining based on these is unfair."

The POSCO branch stated in a position paper, "Ignoring the Supreme Court ruling and adding charges to the same dismissal case to dismiss again can only be seen as POSCO placing itself above the law," emphasizing, "POSCO must stop suppressing democratic unions, withdraw the unfair disciplinary actions, and reinstate the dismissed workers to their original positions."

Previously, on September 23, 2018, POSCO dismissed three union officials including Han Dae-jeong, then chairman of the Metal Workers' Union POSCO branch, and suspended two others, claiming that five union officials entered the POSCO Human Resources Innovation Center, obstructed the work of the Labor Cooperation Office staff, and committed acts of violence.

The Central Labor Relations Commission (CLRC) ruled that the suspension of the two was justified but decided that the disciplinary actions against the three dismissed union members, including Chairman Han, were excessive.

POSCO filed an administrative lawsuit in October 2019 to cancel the CLRC decision but lost in all three trials. POSCO reinstated Chairman Han and the other two on January 6 of this year.

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