For Uniquely Amicable Management-Labor Relations

Korea Express wins citations for 5th straight year for its excellent rapport with union

Korea Express Co., an affiliate of the Kumho-Asiana Group, is known for its smooth labor-management relations, with no flare-up of conflicts in 48 years, nine of which involved no salary negotiations. The company received the honor of being picked as the company with the most exemplary management-labor relations for five years running.
"Labor unions are there because the company is there," said Cha Jin-cheol, head of the labor union at the trucking company, which shows off Korea Express' unique way of maintaining such smooth mutual survival relations between management and labor.
The transportation company's excellent management of its labor union is envied around the country and by the government, in particular, which was so impressed that the Ministry of Labor picked the company as the company with an excellent labor culture in 2009 just as it did every year since it first won the honor four years ago. The government set up the honor system in 1996.
The company's superior management-labor culture was not created yesterday. In 2001, when the company was put under court receivership, the labor union came forward with a program to collect the uncollected receivables, along with campaigns for no accidents and no damages in daily life. Furthermore, the union voluntarily froze their salaries and in some cases even cut them and returned bonuses they got to the company. The head of the union toured the company's facilities around the country and encouraged union members to work harder in times of difficulty for the company. The union even encouraged its members to buy the company's shares and, in response, the company guaranteed continued employment for its employees, suspending the restructuring plans.
What surprised the company was when the labor union head joined management in pledging his personal assets, including his house, as collateral to secure bank loans to be used as operating funds for the company, as banks were unwilling to lend money to the company since it was under court management.
In August last year, as Korea Express faced financial difficulties, the union came up with the 10-10-0 campaign, designed to reduce expenses by 10 percent, boost productivity by 10 percent and bring down the accident rate to zero, drawing huge public and media attention. The union decided to boost productivity by itself, an extremely unusual move, which surprised the public. Furthermore, the union declared peace at all jobsites and did its best to boost productivity in a special agreement at its representative conference held in April.
Korea Express has its own unique corporate culture. The company's operation is transparent and the union is given all the facts on its operation. All important management meetings involve a union representative and a representative of management attends key union meetings including key execution committee meetings of the union to share management strategies and other ideas. In addition, the union holds daily teatime to learn what is happening in the company 365 days per year, building trust between management and the union.
The leadership by President Lee Kook-dong and Union President Cha has been of great help in keeping smooth management-labor relations based on the "live and let live" spirit. President Lee is fully aware of what it is like to be an employee of Korea Express, as he started from the bottom as an average employee and rose to the top manager in about 40 years.
Lee often travels around the company's logistics centers to learn true situations at those facilities, as he often says the union is a companion that keeps the same steps with the management toward the common goals.
He always calls for transparent management, sharing information with the union, rational personnel policies and smooth communication with the union, which is why he travels around the country to visit the jobsites.
Union chief Cha often refers to himself as the "mother" of the company ― as when looking at the company, the president is the father and the union chief is the mother. The parents should take care of their family very well, he often says, talking about his views on management and labor relations. The union head should take care of union members very well, understanding their troubles and problems so that the household is full of laughter. nw

President Lee Kook-dong of Korea Express Co. receives the badge for recognition of the company's outstanding management-labor relations for fifth straight year from the Korea Management Association.