As unions at Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries failed to find common ground in this year's wage and collective bargaining talks, they have gone on strike, spreading labor-management conflict across the shipbuilding industry. The Hanwha Ocean union is continuing a full strike, and the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union is carrying out a partial strike. The Samsung Heavy Industries workers' council, which has not yet gone on strike, is boycotting wage talks and will stage a protest in Seoul near Samsung Electronics' Seocho office building and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's residence.
According to the shipbuilding industry on the 10th, the Hanwha Ocean union has been holding daily partial and full strikes since the 31st of last month, excluding weekends. This is the ninth day of the strike. Strikes involving all union members were held on the 2nd and 7th of this month and again the day before. The day before, more than 4,700 union members staged an eight-hour full strike, during which operations of some cranes and transporters at the Geoje shipyard were halted, causing production disruptions. The union plans to continue a strike involving all union members on the afternoon of the 10th.
Even during the strike, labor and management held two rounds of talks but failed to reach an agreement. In the 20th wage and collective bargaining session held on the 8th, the company presented its first proposal, but the union rejected it. In the early days of the strike, partial strikes centered on expanded executives and some members were held, but recently the union has increased the number of strikes involving all members, ratcheting up pressure.
The union is demanding a 149,600 won increase in the monthly base salary, an expansion of the bonus from 800% to 900%, an extension of the retirement age, and improvements to the performance bonus system. The company proposed a 95,000 won increase in the base salary, a one-time payment of 5.5 million won, welfare points worth 600,000 won per year, and 1.5 million won in gift certificates. The union rejected the proposal, saying this year's base pay increase falls short of the 100,000 won the company offered last year.
A Hanwha Ocean union official said, "With the boom in shipbuilding this year, business performance is expected to improve significantly compared with last year, but the proposal falls short of that," and added, "The company is focused on building high value-added ships, so its results are rising, but actual volumes are not large, and wages have not risen as much as expected."
The HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union is also continuing a partial strike. The union began a partial strike on the 2nd centered on executive members and delegates, and on this day about 2,000 union members in the shipbuilding and offshore divisions of the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union will carry out a four-hour partial strike.
Labor and management at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have continued wage and collective bargaining talks since their initial meeting in June but have not found common ground. The union is demanding the same 149,600 won monthly base pay increase as Hanwha Ocean and a 30% profit-sharing of operating profit. In the 19th round of talks held on the 8th, the company presented a second proposal that included a 105,000 won increase in base pay, 12,000 won for step increases, a 200% encouragement bonus plus 10 million won, and full coverage of joint labor-management meeting dues.
The union said, "We need a substantive proposal that properly reflects the fruits of the shipbuilding boom," rejecting the company's offer. An HD Hyundai Heavy Industries official said, "The company will faithfully engage in talks to narrow the gap between labor and management," adding, "We plan to proceed with negotiations as quickly as possible before the Chuseok holiday."
At Samsung Heavy Industries, prolonged wage talks are also intensifying labor-management conflict. Since the initial meeting in May, 16 rounds of talks have been held, but the company has yet to present a wage proposal. The Samsung Heavy Industries workers' council will boycott the 17th round of talks scheduled for this day and stage a protest at Samsung Electronics' Seocho office building in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
The council believes the company's wage plan is being delayed during the group's review process and plans to urge the group directly to decide on the wage plan. About 80 members of the Samsung Heavy Industries council's executive board and delegates who traveled to Seoul this day will deliver a letter of protest to the group and then move to the vicinity of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, to continue their rally.
The council is demanding a 9.3% increase in the base salary this year, the abolition of the wage-peak system and an unconditional extension of the retirement age, and the hiring of at least 150 new production workers. In July, it also secured the right to strike after a vote on industrial action. The Samsung Heavy Industries workers' council said, "If the company does not present a proposal after this protest in Seoul, we will raise the level of industrial action."