Minister Lee Jeong-sik Visits Geoje Two Days in a Row... Full Effort to Resolve Daewoo Shipbuilding Strike

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jeong-sik visited the strike site at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Okpo Shipyard in Aju-dong, Geoje-si, Gyeongnam, on the afternoon of the 19th. He is meeting with Yoo Choi-an, vice chairman of the Metal Workers' Union Geoje Tongyeong Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontracting Branch, who is protesting inside a 1m by 1m by 1m steel structure on the floor of the shipyard's independent cargo hold.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, will visit Geoje, Gyeongnam once again on the 20th to resolve the strike situation involving subcontractor labor unions at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. This is to resolve the issue through dialogue as much as possible before the deployment of public authority.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Minister Lee canceled all his afternoon schedules and is currently moving to Geoje. He is expected to arrive in Geoje around 6:30 PM and meet separately with the Daewoo Shipbuilding primary and subcontractor labor and management to support the negotiation settlement.

The minister also visited the sit-in site at Daewoo Shipbuilding Okpo Shipyard the day before. There was some expectation inside and outside the ministry that negotiations might be settled after his visit, but since progress was not as expected, he chose to go to Geoje again on this day.

The subcontractor labor and management are conducting talks mediated by the Daewoo Shipbuilding branch, and it is known that they have significantly narrowed their differences compared to before. A ministry official said, "The parties involved in the negotiations have the will to resolve the issue," adding, "It is too early to be optimistic, but we are making every effort."

The labor and management had been unable to narrow their differences over a 30% wage increase, but the day before, it was reported that they narrowed the gap to a 4.5% increase from management and a 5% increase from labor.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, while arriving at the presidential office building on this day, was asked, "You hinted at the deployment of public authority saying you have waited long enough; are you also considering police deployment?" He replied, "The question is too long. I would appreciate it if you could make it shorter," and refrained from further comment.

On his way to work the previous day, President Yoon said, "In industrial sites and labor-management relations, illegal acts should not be neglected or tolerated by either labor or management. I think both the public and the government have waited long enough," hinting at the possibility of deploying public authority.

The Geoje, Tongyeong, and Goseong subcontractor branches affiliated with the Korean Metal Workers' Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, to which the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering subcontractor unions belong, are conducting a strike demanding a 30% wage increase, 300% bonus payment, and guarantees for union activities.

Some members of the subcontractor union are staging sit-ins by climbing structures over 10 meters high connected by narrow stairs. In particular, Vice Chairman Yoo Choi-an built a steel structure measuring 1 meter in width, length, and height, entered it, and is conducting a sit-in with the entrance welded shut with iron bars.

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