Government to Operate Win-Win Cooperation Forums in 5 Industries Including Shipbuilding, Automotive, and Aviation

Forum Launched to Address Double Structure Issues

Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor.

The government, seeking autonomous solutions between primary contractors and subcontractors to improve the dual structure of the labor market, announced on the 27th that it will operate a 'Win-Win Cooperation Forum' in five major industries: shipbuilding, automotive, petrochemicals, aviation, and food.

This forum is composed mainly of experts participating in industry-specific win-win models to share the situations of each industry and explore ways to expand win-win cooperation. The forum includes 11 experts, chaired by Professor Joonmo Cho of Sungkyunkwan University, with participants such as Professor Hyuk Kwon of Pusan National University, Professor Heungjun Jung of Seoul National University of Science and Technology, and Director Hanggu Lee of the Automotive Convergence Technology Institute.

The dual structure issue between primary contractors and subcontractors surfaced in July 2022 with the strike of subcontracted workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The government recognizes that the dual structure problem involves various interests of both primary and subcontracted labor and management, and sees limitations in resolving the issue solely through government regulation or financial input. Therefore, starting with the shipbuilding industry last year, it has expanded a 'new social dialogue model' where industries autonomously seek solutions to reduce disparities across five sectors. Key experts in each industry play roles in discovering alternatives and coordinating opinions.

At the forum, Lee Jung-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, stated, “Since each industry has different awareness of issues and know-how for win-win cooperation, sharing and expanding these will enable the search for better win-win solutions. Going forward, we will operate the forum centered on private experts to listen to voices from each industry's field, and activate multilayered social dialogue at central, regional, and industry levels based on win-win models.”

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to hold a session in the second half of the year to share the achievements of win-win cooperation with participating companies. To protect vulnerable workers including win-win cooperation between primary and subcontractors, the ministry plans to expand the scale of the 'Win-Win Solidarity Formation Support' project, which supports welfare improvement for small subcontractors, and also back efforts for win-win cooperation in safety and training fields.

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