English translation of the original Korean report. Images and source documents may contain Korean text.

Union Says Hanwha Ocean Maintains Position That ‘Only Six Safety-Related Provisions Are Open to Negotiation’…Joint Strike Preparations to Follow Protest at Height

Subcontract workers at Hanwha Ocean have announced plans to launch a hunger strike, saying that six rounds of collective bargaining with the main contractor have failed to address key issues, including wages and employment. Labor-management tensions over direct bargaining with the main contractor continue as workers prepare for a hunger strike and a joint strike following a protest at height that began in late September.

According to the Korean Metal Workers’ Union on the 13th, the Welliv Branch and the Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontractors’ Branch failed to narrow their differences with Hanwha Ocean over the scope of bargaining during the sixth round of collective negotiations. The union said Hanwha Ocean maintained its previous position that negotiations could cover only six safety-related provisions.

The union claimed that it had requested collective bargaining with Hanwha Ocean following the implementation of the amended Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act on March 10 this year, but that the company had refused to bargain for approximately seven months. The union explained that the two branches began their protest at height on September 30 and that direct bargaining with the main contractor commenced on October 8 after the Seoul Administrative Court rejected Hanwha Ocean’s applications for a stay of execution on October 1.

During the sixth round of negotiations, labor and management differed over whether wages, welfare benefits, employment, and trade union activities should be included among the bargaining subjects. The union assessed that no substantive progress had been made because Hanwha Ocean refused to accept bargaining topics beyond safety issues.

Following the negotiations, a one-on-one meeting was also held between Kim Jeong-cheol, Vice Chair of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union’s South Gyeongsang Branch, and Im Won-bae, Head of Hanwha Ocean’s Labor-Management Cooperation Division. According to the union, however, neither side changed its position.

■ Hanwha Ocean Posts Operating Profit of 1.6629 Trillion Won…Subcontract Workers’ Union Says Workers Are ‘Excluded From the Gains’

The union claimed that although Hanwha Ocean’s operating profit reached 1.6629 trillion won from January through September this year, subcontract workers’ wages amounted to only about 50% of those paid to regular employees. It emphasized that employment security was a key bargaining issue for Welliv workers in particular, as Welliv is scheduled to renegotiate its contract with Hanwha Ocean in April 2027.

Accordingly, Kang In-seok, Chair of the Shipbuilding Subcontractors’ Branch, who has been staging a protest at height on the roof of the painting facility at the Seongak intersection within Hanwha Ocean’s premises since September 30, is scheduled to begin a hunger strike on the 16th. On the same day, Lee Hyeong-ju, Chair of the Welliv Branch, and Kang Bong-jae, Vice Chair of the Shipbuilding Subcontractors’ Branch, also plan to join the hunger strike at the protest tent near the Seongak intersection.

The union plans to intensify preparations for a joint strike by the Welliv Branch and the Shipbuilding Subcontractors’ Branch as the hunger strike begins. It maintains that bargaining with the main contractor would be unlikely to have any practical effect if wages, welfare benefits, and employment issues could not be addressed.

The two union branches plan to hold a press conference announcing the start of the hunger strike at the South Gyeongsang Provincial Government Press Center at 11:00 a.m. on the 16th. The seventh round of bargaining with the main contractor is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. on the 19th in the safety training room on the sixth floor of the West Gate Finance Center at Hanwha Ocean’s premises.