Hanbo's management and union agree on wages

Hanbo’s management and union agree on wages

Officials at Hanbo Iron & Steel announced that the management and labor union ended a 16-day strike on Saturday by agreeing on higher wages and other benefits. INI Steel, which leads the South Korean consortium scheduled to take over Hanbo in late August, also agreed to provide workers with a guarantee of continued employment for up to three years. As SteelOrbis previously reported on July 28, 300 workers at Hanbo had gone on strike on July 21, demanding higher wages and a guarantee of job security. Hanbo officials announced that production will return to normal starting August 16 after repair work at the mill is finished next week. The two sides agreed to a 9.5% increase in wages and a performance-based bonus of four months base salary and other monetary compensation. Hanbo is reportedly beginning to recover quickly from the bankruptcy it declared in 1997, showing annual revenues of Won 437 billion ($3.76 million) last year. Hanbo produces more than 3 million tons of steel per year. As a result of the takeover, Hyundai Motor Group, Korea's third-largest conglomerate, will be enabled to start producing hot-rolled steel, a product over which Posco, the country's largest steelmaker, has held a monopoly for many years. When Hanbo's steel mills are completed, INI Steel will be able to produce 3.9 million tons of hot-rolled steel annually. In comparison, Posco produces 20.8 million tons of hot rolled coil, 34% of which is used as finished project. Hyundai Hysco, which will be responsible for Hanbo's cold rolled steel plants, will be enabled to increase its annual production capacity to 3.8 million tons from 1.8 million tons.