[Reporter’s Notebook] My Father's Workplace, Daewoo Shipbuilding

Reporter Hyungmin Kim, Social Affairs Department

The reporter was born and raised in Geoje Island for 20 years. His father worked as a regular employee at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering for 30 years, supporting the family, and retired in 2019.

His father always emphasized, "Ships are built because subcontractor colleagues work together." It was a statement born from a deep camaraderie but also from a concern that I might look down on my friends whose fathers worked at subcontractors. That statement was true. However, subcontractor workers simply did more difficult tasks. Sometimes, they had to risk their lives.

Even in hot weather like these days, those who have to weld the decks of container ships, oil tankers, and the like outdoors worked while worrying about each other. They brought large blocks of ice, broke them on the spot, and put them inside their clothes to work. Workers who worked or repaired on cranes so high that just looking up made one dizzy took condition recovery supplements frequently to prevent falling asleep and falling. Some even carried talismans inside their bodies. Because they were also someone's family, greetings like "Be careful" and "Don't overdo it" were always on their lips on the way to work.

The subcontractor workers who occupied a massive Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) under construction for over a month are demanding "restoration of wages to their original state." They base this on the fact that the company recently recovered its order performance and the shipbuilding industry has regained vitality. Wages are the price they paid risking their lives. Their outcry should be seen as an explosion of pent-up resentment that was held back silently during the COVID-19 crisis.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Even now, workers get injured and die on site. According to the ‘2021 Sustainability Management Report’ published by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the number of accidents among subcontractors last year was 206. Although the occupation is illegal, there is room for sufficient discussion. Ultimately, it must be resolved through dialogue. It should not be turned into a political fight. The issue raised that labor groups such as the Metal Workers' Union are using this as a pretext to provoke extreme situations for political purposes should not be taken lightly. The government should also reconsider deploying public authority to prevent tragedy.

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