Hyundai Steel's steel mill in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, is seen in this file photo. Courtesy of Hyundai Steel

By Park Jae-hyuk

Hyundai Steel is facing backlash from employees for enforcing draconian measures in the name of safety after a series of fatal industrial accidents earlier this month, according to industry officials, Monday.

"Having convened a teleconference of around 300 team leaders on March 8, the CEO banned them from getting any days off and ordered them to work on weekends over the next 100 days," a person claiming to be a Hyundai Steel employee wrote on Blind, an anonymous chat app for verified employees. "After the teleconference, executives forced team leaders to order their team members to take turns to work on holidays."

The whistleblower also disclosed a message from management, which reads that those who violate safety rules more than three times by gross negligence could be dismissed.

"The company is harassing innocent team leaders, forcing them to work without any days off," another Hyundai Steel employee wrote. "What if they collapse due to overwork?"

Some employees asked their company's minority shareholders to vote against CEO An Tong-il's reappointment as an inside director, during the general meeting of shareholders on March 23.

Hyundai Steel, however, said that it had tightened its safety measures to prevent the recurrence of fatal industrial accidents.

"The emergency measures will be enforced in compliance with the Labor Standards Act, so we will pay our employees for their work on holidays," a Hyundai Steel spokesman said. "Repeated violation of safety measures can also be a reason for disciplinary action under law."

Industry officials regarded the recent conflict as a reaction to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act (SAPA), which attributes criminal liability to the head of a company if a fatal industrial accident occurs at a workplace run by that business.

The Hyundai Steel CEO is under investigation after a regular employee died at a steel mill in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, March 2, and an irregular worker died at a factory in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province, March 5. The Ministry of Employment of Labor also raided six workplaces related to Hyundai Steel, Monday, following its previous raid on four workplaces on March 7.

A survey of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) showed that 37.8 percent of domestic companies asked for a revision of the SAPA from the incoming administration, while 32.4 percent demanded a reform in the Minimum Wage Act.

"The result reflects concerns among businesses about immoderate punishments and uncertainties caused by the SAPA, as well as difficulties from the indiscriminate application of the minimum wage to all jobs," an FKI official said in a press release.