- The unionized seafarers at HMM have put on hold their planned strike and will resume negotiations with management next week
- The workers have been demanding higher pay and bonuses, threatening not just to stay away from work but to resign en masse if their demands are not met
- Union members claim they have been underpaid compared to workers at rival companies and their wages have been frozen for up to eight years
Unionized seafarers at South Korea’s flag ocean carrier HMM have suspended plans to stage a strike and have agreed to return to the negotiating table with management next week to thresh out wage issues.
The Korea Herald reported that union representatives in a press release on August 25 said union leaders held talks with HMM’s CEO the previous day and agreed to negotiate again on September 1.
Disgruntled workers at HMM, South Korea’s largest containershipping liner company, on August 24 threatened to stage a labor strike, raising fears of a major disruption in maritime shipping, reported local media outlets.
The workers have been demanding higher pay raises, warning they will not just stay away from work but will resign en masse if their demands are not met.
They have also applied to Swiss-based shipping company MSC, which recently has been hiring crew to board their ships, The Korea Herald added.
The company’s land-based employees are also scheduled to hold a vote next week as some 95% of unionized longshoremen voted against the wage proposal as well.
The ground workers have already secured the rights to conduct a strike after the labor relations commission stopped mediation due to stark differences with the management.
Of the 1,644 HMM employees, 1,019 workers are stationed on land and 625 at sea, news reports said.
HMM on August 24 pressed its labor unions to return to the negotiating table, saying a walkout by its workers, which would be a first for the company, could cost the firm US$580 million.
“We have already offered the unions a raise estimated at 10 percent, considering that the potential strike can deal a harsh blow on the export-oriented economy,” HMM said in a statement, as quoted by Yonhap News Agency.
Union members earlier demanded an 8% pay increase on top of a bonus amounting to 800% of their wages. The management countered with an 8% raise, along with bonuses of 500%, an offer that was rejected by the workers.
Union members claim they have been underpaid compared to workers at rival companies and their wages have been frozen for up to eight years.
HMM, meanwhile, posted record earnings over the April-June period on the back of rising freight costs. Its operating profit rose 10 times from a year earlier to about KRW1.4 trillion (US$1.2 billion) in the April-June period.
An HMM work strike could devastate exporters as it could further disrupt shipping operations and fan shipping rates amid a dire shortage of container carriers.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, meanwhile, said it plans to operate a special task force to brace for potential disruptions in the shipment of export goods in the event the strike pushes through.
Photo by Alf van Beem
