'Gangdaegang' Confrontation Continues at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering... Resolution Deadlock

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The sit-in protest by subcontractor union members at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) is dragging on with no signs of resolution.

On the 9th, union members belonging to the Metal Workers' Union Geoje Tongyeong Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontractor Branch (Subcontractor Branch) marked the 38th day since they began striking at Dock 1 of the Geoje Okpo Shipyard.

The previous day, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held a rally at 2 p.m. in front of the south gate of DSME to support the subcontractor workers. At the same time, inside the shipyard, DSME and partner company employees held a gathering appealing for an end to the illegal strike and a return to normal operations. The conflicting views between the two sides clearly illustrated the difficulty in resolving the situation.

Park Doo-sun, CEO of DSME, requested an investigation into illegal acts such as workplace occupation related to the subcontractor branch strike. At the end of last month, DSME filed a complaint against three individuals, including the branch president and two vice presidents, on charges of obstruction of business.

The subcontractor branch has been striking since the 2nd of last month, demanding a 30% wage increase. Since the 22nd of last month, one vice president along with six union members have occupied a super-large crude oil carrier under construction at Dock 1, entering a one-cubic-meter steel structure.

They welded the entrance shut and reportedly prepared thinner as a precaution against possible law enforcement intervention. The situation remains tense, with the risk of a large-scale accident if public authority is deployed.

DSME views the current situation as an unprecedented crisis and has entered an emergency management system. Due to the strike, delivery of four vessels under construction at Geoje Okpo Shipyard Dock 1 has been indefinitely postponed, with estimated losses from delayed launching exceeding 280 billion KRW by the end of June.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The problem is that there is no sign of negotiation progress. The subcontractor branch members are employees of subcontracting companies, not DSME. The primary contractor, DSME, finds it difficult to recognize negotiation status with subcontractor employees rather than its own staff.

Typically, subcontracted shipbuilding workers form small teams and move to nearby shipyards depending on workload. Because they move according to better conditions, it is said to be difficult to find competent teams when there is a labor shortage.

The demand for a 30% wage increase from individual subcontractors is also seen as practically impossible. This is why there are calls for third-party intervention to resolve the standoff caused by demands that the company cannot accept.

Accordingly, an emergency forum on the situation of DSME subcontractor workers was held at the National Assembly on the 6th, but only opposition lawmakers participated; government and ruling party officials did not attend.

As the strike prolongs and work halts, DSME’s losses are spreading.

At a press conference on the 7th, CEO Park said, "With the long-awaited shipbuilding boom, job creation, and contributions to regional and national economic revitalization, I earnestly plead on behalf of 20,000 members not to let these opportunities be wasted due to illegal strikes and production stoppages by a few groups."

Park added, "With recent order recoveries, we hoped to resolve the long-standing production shortage and restore normal management, but the prolonged illegal strike by the subcontractor branch is shaking these expectations. The damage is not limited to DSME but could spread to the entire shipbuilding industry, threatening the survival of South Korea’s shipbuilding sector," he appealed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.