21st Posco union officer election held Friday
8,680 of 8,972 eligible voters cast ballots
Kim Sung-ho wins third term with 73.53 percent of the vote
Posco vows 'all-out effort' for swift negotiated settlement
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions' metal workers' affiliate at Posco announced Friday that incumbent union chief Kim Sung-ho had won election as the next leader of the 21st Posco union executive.
Two candidates contested the chairmanship in Friday's election: incumbent chief Kim Sung-ho and former Pohang Vice Chairman Kim Dae-eok.
Kim Sung-ho, seeking a third consecutive term, secured 6,382 votes — 73.53 percent of the total — defeating Kim Dae-eok, who received 2,298 votes, or 26.47 percent. A total of 8,680 of the 8,972 eligible voters participated.
The 21st Posco union executive will serve a three-year term running from Dec. 1, 2026, through Nov. 30, 2029.
With the new union chief now in place, Posco's labor and management sides plan to formally resume wage negotiations.
Earlier, the union staged first and second partial strikes last month after failing to find common ground with management during wage talks. It was the first time Posco workers had gone on strike in the company's 58-year history since its founding in 1968.
The union is holding firm on its existing demands: a 7.1 percent base-pay increase, a 600 percent incentive bonus, 50 shares of employee stock, and a 200 percent holiday bonus.
Management, however, says it cannot simply accept the union's demands given a sharp deterioration in profitability in the first half of this year. Posco's standalone operating profit for the first half of 2026 came to 487.3 billion won ($358 million), down 43.3 percent from the same period last year.
The company estimates that meeting all of the union's demands would cost around 1.4 trillion won — roughly equal to Posco's full-year standalone operating profit of 1.47 trillion won in 2024, and about 80 percent of last year's annual operating profit of 1.78 trillion won.
"Labor and management are currently facing an unprecedentedly difficult domestic and external environment," a Posco official said. "The company will do its utmost, together with the union and on the basis of a shared commitment to mutual prosperity, to reach a swift and smooth settlement through open communication."
likehyo85@heraldcorp.com
