19 Years, No Strike

A ship's hull being built at Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyards.
A ship's hull being built at Hyundai Heavy Industries' shipyards.

 

Wage negotiations between labor and management in the shipbuilding industry have mostly settled down this year. However, there is still a difference of opinion between the labor and management of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s largest shipbuilding company, showing signs of talks being extended.

According to shipbuilding industry sources on Sept. 24, the labor union of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) voted for and passed the tentative agreement during the general meeting on Sept. 22. In the vote, 6,865 out of 1,101 members weighed in. Among them, 63.2 percent, or 4,340, voted in favor and passed the agreement.

Labor and management also agreed to come up with measures to revitalize the employee welfare fund and improve the treatment of subcontract workers.

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD), which held a vote on the wage and collective bargaining tentative agreement on the same day, also passed the agreement. In the vote, 2,710 out of 2,812 members took part, with the voter turnout of 96.4 percent; 59.2 percent, or 1,603, voted in favor. This sets a new record of wage negotiations being successfully conducted without a strike for 19 straight years, since 1997.

As the labor and management of the DSME and HMD reached an agreement on that day, HHI is left alone among the “Big Three” shipbuilders in the nation, following Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI). Shipbuilding industry watchers view this as a positive prospect that the labor and management of HHI will enter an infection point, as the two companies have concluded wage negotiations.

An official from the shipbuilding industry said, “The labor unions of nine companies, including the nation’s 'Big Three' shipbuilders HHI, SHI and DSME, banded together for a joint struggle. However, the two joint struggles of the labor unions actually broke up with low participation rates. As SHI and DSME of the 'Big Three' firms have come up with a tentative agreement to freeze the base pay, the labor and management of HHI will conclude the agreement with similar levels.” However, the settlement is expected to take place after Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving Day, which falls on Sept. 27 this year.

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