[Edaily Reporter Shin Su-jeong] The Orion labor union will hold a partial strike for two days on the 4th and 5th. Some sales staff responsible for deliveries to traditional supermarkets will work in the morning but refuse to work in the afternoon.

According to the Orion Branch of the Korean Textile, Food, and Chemical Workers’ Union (affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions) on the 1st, the union will engage in industrial action in the form of a partial strike on the 4th and 5th. The union secured the right to strike after a 94.5% approval rate in a strike authorization vote held last month.

Some sales representatives nationwide are expected to participate in this partial strike. Orion has approximately 400 sales staff, and it is reported that about 200 of them will take part in the partial strike.

A union official stated, “They work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the strike will involve working only in the morning and refusing to work for the remainder of the day,” adding, “About 200 of the 400 field sales staff are expected to participate in the partial strike.”

Negotiations between the company and the union are scheduled for the 10th. The union is demanding a 7.5% increase in base pay across all positions, fulfillment of promises to improve the ratio of base pay to various allowances, and improvements to the job-based compensation system.

The union argues that while Orion Group recorded consolidated sales of 3.3324 trillion won and an operating profit of 558.2 billion won last year, it initially proposed a 2% wage increase for this year, followed by a 3.5% increase. It is also raising the issue of compensation for routine overtime work.

An Orion official stated, “Thanks to our industry-leading employee compensation system, the average salary per employee has nearly doubled over the past decade,” adding, “In addition to annual wage increases of 3–8% and PI performance bonuses in the first and second halves of the year, we have been paying PS performance bonuses when excess profits are generated since 2015, and special Chuseok performance bonuses since 2019. "We will work to build a better company through amicable negotiations with the union," the official added.