Posco workers reach agreement to raise wages

Posco, the largest steel producer in South Korea, said it has entered into a wage and collective bargaining agreement with its union that will increase base wages by 2 percent.

The union announced a vote earlier that day: 86.1 percent, or 5,449 workers, decided to take it, the company said.

Of the 6,485 trade union workers, 6,330 voted and 881 opposed the deal.

Posco and the union tentatively agreed late last month in a negotiation in which the union sought a 4 percent increase in base wages.

Posco and its union started collective bargaining in May this year.
In addition to raising base wages, the deal also includes adjustments to the retirement age and other employee benefits, as well as expanded social support.

Founded in 1968, Posco had its first union in the late 1980s with 18,000 members. But a separate union was formed in 1997 after the leadership of the old union was involved in bribery.

Since then, both unions have fought to win the right to negotiate as the workers' official representative. Last December, the provincial office under the Department of Labor granted the older group the right to legally negotiate, citing wider membership.

The deal marks the first agreement reached since Posco resolved an issue arising from a dual union structure.