BNG Steel, an affiliate of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, wrapped up this year's wage negotiations and collective bargaining talks without resorting to strikes. Unionized workers delegated to the company all issues related to collective bargaining talks. When management offered a 2 percent raise in base salaries and a 150 percent performance-based bonus, unionized workers accepted. The decision contrasted with unionized workers at affiliate Hyundai Motor, who launched a politically motivated strike to protest imports of U.S. beef. Unionized workers at BNG Steel entrusted management with wage issues because they felt the company's first priority was to overcome the difficulties posed by soaring oil and raw materials prices and slow sales in stainless steel products, as well as complete facilities expansion plans as soon as possible.

In May, unionized workers at the Janghang plant of LS Industrial Systems entrusted management officials with collective bargaining issues for the first time since the union was founded 53 years ago. Unionized workers at GS Caltex, Kumho Petrochemical, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Dongkuk Steel Group, KISWIRE, and AMOREPACIFIC also entrusted management officials with collective bargaining issues this year. Unionized workers at LG Electronics, Hynix, Korean Air and Kolon voluntarily announced a wage freeze.

Among the 1,804 businesses where wage talks have been concluded, the average pay hike was 5.1 percent, which is lower than the 5.5 percent rise in consumer prices in June. Mindful of the financial difficulties facing their employers, unionized workers have accepted decreases in their real wages. The ratio of businesses reaching agreements with unionized workers in wage talks rose from 22.5 percent in the first half of last year to 26.7 percent during the first half of this year. That's because excessive demands by unionized workers have decreased.

As of July 15, there have been 1,167 cases where unionized workers have promised to hold back on wage increases and to refrain from strikes, while management has promised not to lay off any workers. That's almost three times greater than the 431 cases seen over the same period last year. What we are seeing is a growing consensus that both labor and management should yield and share the burden.

But there is one group where this type of consensus is impossible to find. It's the leadership of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, whose favorite words are "general strikes" and "struggle." As its member unions held partial strikes on July 2 to oppose U.S. beef imports, KCTU chairman Lee Sok-haeng said he would escalate the strikes so that they seriously impact production. He even vowed to intensify the strikes so that electricity would be cut off and railways halted if government repression continues. They have no concerns whatsoever about the prospect of their country's economy going to ruins.