[Edaily Reporter Shin Su-jeong] #Orion’s management and labor have reached a final agreement on wage negotiations, bringing the labor-management conflict—which had escalated into the company’s first-ever strike since its founding—to a close.

According to industry sources on the 17th, Orion’s Sales Workers’ Union and management reached an agreement on the wage proposal after more than five hours of negotiations that began at 2:00 p.m. on the 16th. The negotiations were originally scheduled for today but were moved up by one day.

Consequently, the full-scale strike previously announced by the Orion Branch of the Chemical, Textile, and Food Workers’ Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is expected to be called off.

The key issues in these negotiations were the magnitude of the base salary increase and improvements to the allowance system. Management had previously backed down from its initial proposal of a 2% base salary increase and offered a 3.5% increase instead. On the other hand, the union had demanded a 7.5% increase, arguing that while the domestic subsidiary’s sales reached 1.1 trillion won and performance was solid, actual take-home pay had decreased due to raised sales targets and adjustments to allowances.

The adjustment of the ratio between base pay and allowances was also a point of contention. The union has insisted that the company must implement the existing labor-management agreement to adjust the ratio from the current 6:4 to 7:3.

Previously, the Orion labor union held a two-day partial strike from the 4th to the 5th. About 70 sales staff members responsible for supplying and selling products to domestic supermarkets participated in the strike. They staged the strike by refusing to work in the afternoon.

Orion stated, “We will continue to steadfastly uphold our management principle of prioritizing the improvement of our employees’ quality of life.”