POSCO union warns of 1st strike as wage talks falter

POSCO faces its first strike in its 58-year history as wage talks with its union remain deadlocked, with the latter threatening a 48-hour partial walkout on Wednesday if the steelmaker fails to present a revised wage offer. The union said on Tuesday it would launch the strike on Wednesday if wage talks fail to reach a deal by midnight. It plans to halt all production lines at the pickling plant at the company’s Gwangyang steelworks in Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitcan City and a 3ZRM cold rolling mill at its electrical steel plant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province for 48 hours. The union said it would escalate the action with a second partial strike lasting 120 hours on Sept. 16 if the company fails to offer better terms. "Unless the company changes its attitude, we will go on strike as scheduled," Kim Seong-ho, head of the union, said at Tuesday's rally outside POSCO’s office in Seoul. The union is seeking a 7.1 percent increase in base wages, incentives equivalent to 600 percent of base pay, 50 shares through an employee stock ownership plan and holiday bonuses worth 200 perc