Hyundai Heavy union under fire for strikes

Union workers at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) are under fire for staging a series of general strikes since May while the shipyard has suffered operating losses of several trillions of won over the past several years due to declining global demand.

The order backlog of HHI’s Gunsan shipyard in North Jeolla Province is expected to be completely emptied after it delivers its last ship at the end of June. A num- ber of subcontractors near the Gunsan shipyard have reportedly been closing their doors one after another since October. Of the 86 HHI subcontractors, 27 have so far gone out of business.

“If the Gunsan shipyard fails to revive its shipbuilding operation soon, not only Gunsan but also North Jeolla Province will face an industrial collapse along with a massive unemployment crisis,” Gunsan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Kim Dong-soo said.

Despite the nation’s largest ship- builder’s struggles with its subcontractors, around 800 union workers at HHI staged a general walkout for eight hours in front of the company’s headquarters in Ulsan, Thursday. And some 600 workers held a sit-in for another eight hours Friday. It has been 23 years since the union staged its last general walkout in 1994.

“I do not understand. Union workers in the Ulsan shipyard also saw one of our docks has halted its shipbuilding operation since July due to the order cliff. Two more docks are likely to do the same by the end of July if the trend continues,” an HHI official said.

It was the first time for HHI to halt shipbuilding operations at its docks since its founding in 1972.

Since July, HHI has been carrying out a restructuring process that includes asset sales and layoffs. Nearly 2,000 workers left the company under a voluntary retirement program while the company’s non-shipbuilding affiliates, including Hyundai Electric & Energy System and Hyundai Robotics, are expected to be spun off to maximize the shipyard’s business competitiveness.

During recent labor-management negotiations, the company promised to halt the voluntary retirement program for the rest of the year while proposing a 20 percent cut to this year’s base salaries for everyone on the payroll.

HHI union leaders said, however, they cannot accept such wage terms because it will weaken union workers’ rights. During the first meeting with the management in July, they demanded a 7.2 percent pay raise along with paying 30 percent of last year’s net profit as incentives as well as reinstatement of fired workers.