Seoul: Hyundai Heavy Industries said yesterday that its upper management will cut back on their accepted wages, with the company's two ceos Min Keh-sik and Choi Kil-seon forfeiting their entire salaries to the company in return for the labor union's concession on wage negotiations, writes the Korea Herald.
The leading shipbuilder has stated that in addition to the two ceos, eight vice presidents will return 50% of their wages, and the remaining 180 executives 30% of their salaries.
"I deeply thank the labor union and employees for their courageous decision to overcome the crisis together," Choi said in a statement. "All company executives including me have decided to pay back all or parts of wages until the crisis is fully resolved."
It is likely that this decision may spur similar action by competitor yards and other maritime players.
The HHI labor union recently announced that it would leave the decision on the 2009 wages to the management to help the company tide over the economic crisis.
Choi urged employees to make efforts to transform the crisis into an opportunity, despite the bleak outlook of the economy."Due to the global financial crisis, our whole economy is in a dire situation. And our company is not an exception," he said.
HHI's shipbuilding business has not received a single order since the second half of last year, and payments for previous orders are also being delayed, Choi noted. "Let's overcome this crisis and make the company keep growing by putting our efforts together," he said. [06/03/09]
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