Shipyard labor disputes set to drag past Chuseok, with joint strike looming

With major shipbuilders all failing to reach agreement in this year's wage and collective bargaining talks, labor unrest is expected to continue well past the Chuseok holiday. Signs are emerging of a broader, industry-wide united front, and some observers warn that a joint strike — if it materializes — could disrupt production at a time when the shipbuilding sector is riding a historic boom cycle.

According to industry sources, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and its union entered intensive negotiations Friday. Talks continued Monday but the two sides failed to narrow differences on key issues including base salary and housing loans. Earlier, at the 20th round of main bargaining held Thursday, the company tabled its third proposal, which included a base pay increase of 110,000 won ($82) — covering a seniority increment of 47,000 won — an incentive bonus of 10 million won plus 200 percent plus 500,000 won in gift vouchers, a relaxed age threshold for spousal comprehensive health checkups (lowered from 40 to 35), and the establishment of a social contribution fund. The union — the Korean Metal Workers' Union's Hyundai Heavy Industries branch — rejected the offer, and the two sides remain at an impasse.

Management has emphasized that its third proposal represents roughly a 33 percent increase in total compensation compared with last year, while the union is calling for additional base pay hikes and improvements to the housing loan program, and says it wants to reach a settlement before Chuseok. The union plans to extend strike hours to seven per day Wednesday through Friday. If the two sides fail to make meaningful progress this week, a pre-holiday settlement is widely seen as effectively out of reach.

The Korean Metal Workers' Union's Hanwha Ocean branch has also been staging strikes every weekday since Aug. 31. The Hanwha Ocean dispute centers on disagreements over the size of base pay increases, bonus expansion and improvements to the performance pay system. Management recently put forward a proposal, which the union rejected. Participation that began with only some union members has since expanded to all members this month, and a full eight-hour strike was held Wednesday. At one point, some crane and transporter operations were halted, though the stoppages are not believed to have affected vessel delivery schedules.

At Samsung Heavy Industries, part of the workers' council recently escalated its campaign by staging a protest in Seoul. The council boycotted a scheduled round of bargaining Thursday and held a demonstration outside Samsung Electronics' headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The council's leadership, believing that a wage proposal prepared by the company has been delayed during a group-level review process, delivered a letter of protest directly to the conglomerate. Under rules agreed upon by labor and management, the workers' council enjoys labor rights comparable to those of a formal union, and can launch a strike after filing a labor dispute notice and observing a seven-day cooling-off period. The council has secured the right to strike but has not yet taken that step.

Moves toward an industry-wide joint strike are also gaining momentum. The Shipbuilding Industry Labor Union Solidarity said Friday that six worksites — HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (including HD Hyundai Mipo), Hanwha Ocean, Samsung Heavy Industries, HSG Sungdong Shipbuilding and K Shipbuilding — had each completed the legal procedures for industrial action, with a combined vote showing 94.45 percent in favor. The alliance warned that if management at those companies does not submit acceptable proposals before Wednesday, it will launch a full-scale campaign after Chuseok, including a joint strike across the alliance.

"This year, record earnings and bonus disputes driven by the shipbuilding boom mean wage negotiations across the industry will not go smoothly," one industry official said. "With both sides continuing to dig in, a pre-Chuseok settlement — the stated goal of both labor and management — looks effectively out of reach."