DSME strike ends but the losses have piled up

Industry

Published: 24 Jul. 2022, 17:03 Updated: 24 Jul. 2022, 18:27

DSME strike ends but the losses have piled up

A 300,000-ton crude carrier placed in seawaters at DSME’s dock in Okpo, Geoje, South Gyeongsang, for the first time on Saturday. DSME workers were able to resume work after the union workers of DSME’s subcontractors ended their strikes that lasted for 51 days on Friday. [DAEWOO SHIPBUILDING AND MARINE ENGINEERING]

A strike by subcontracted workers of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) ended after 51 days last Friday but the shipbuilder is demanding the union be held accountable for its losses from the strike.

According to a DSME official, some 80 percent of subcontracted employees returned to work Sunday with only a couple of months left before a deadline to deliver three ships.

One of the ship that has been delayed is a 300,000-ton crude carrier scheduled to be delivered in November. The strike has delayed its completion by five weeks.

“Many employees are giving up their summer vacations,” said a DSME official. “Yet it will be difficult to fully recover the lost time.”

Even with extra working hours, the official said, at most two or three weeks of work can be recovered.

The strike started on June 2 and came to an abrupt end on Friday after the labor union agreed to a 4.5 percent wage increase along with 500,000 won in additional pay for working on holidays and a 400,000 won summer vacation bonus.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions called the strike a win.

In a statement released on Friday, the umbrella union argued that the 51-days of strike showed the world the poor conditions facing subcontracted workers in the shipbuilding industry.

The resolution came a few days after the government started increasing its pressure. President Yoon Suk-yeol told reporters that the public’s patience with the strikers had run out and raised the possibility of sending in a riot squad to make arrests.

The union retreated significantly from its demand of a 30 percent wage increase.

However, among the 12,000 or so employees of DSME subcontractors, 98 percent who are not in the union agreed to a raise of between 4 and 8 percent before the strike started.

The workers that participated in the strike were from 21 subcontractors and numbered 120.

One unresolved issue is the union’s liability for the losses the shipbuilder suffered.

The subcontractors’ union failed to persuade DSME to withdraw a criminal complaint against union representatives filed last month.
The union representatives are accused of business obstruction.

While the police asked for arrest warrants Friday for union representatives including Yoo Choi-an, the vice head of subcontractors’ union, the Changwon District Court denied on Saturday. Yoo welded himself into a steel cage in the middle of the shipyard dock.

The court said it denied the warrants because the union ended its strike and union representatives agreeing to being questioned by the police.

DSME management is believed not to be withdrawing its criminal complaint because it fears lawsuit by the company’s shareholders over the losses.

The shipbuilder is estimated to have suffered losses amounting to 800 billion won during the strike.

In the first quarter of this year, DSME reported a 13 percent increase in revenue to1.25 trillion won, but widening losses.

It reported an operating loss of 470.1 billion won, a 120 percent increase year-on-year, and net loss of 491.8 billion won, a 109 percent increase.

BY KO SUK-HYUN, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]