"Union protests hasty hiring of unskilled foreign shipbuilding workers," 30 June 2023

Labor unions of Korea's shipbuilders criticized the government and their employers, Friday, for trying to overcome a shortage workers in the industry by hiring poorly-trained migrant workers. [...] The critics argue migrant workers have been more vulnerable to the risk of industrial accidents due to miscommunication and insufficient safety training.

[...] The unionized workers pointed out that foreign shipbuilding workers have deserted their jobs frequently to seek higher-paying positions so that they can pay back the money borrowed from brokers to obtain E-7 visas.

[...] Among the six requests from subcontracted workers to the companies, the labor unions called for a ban on reducing wages and welfare benefits for foreign workers.

[...] This came after the Korea Enterprises Federation asked the government earlier this week to lower the minimum wage for migrant shipbuilding workers, so as to help make foreign labor more affordable for subcontractors of large shipbuilding companies.

[...] The HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union, which is not reaching an agreement with the management on wages, plans to take ballots from its members from July 7 to 11 to decide whether or not to walk out.

Hanwha Ocean's union is also calling for a significant improvement in wages and welfare benefits, following Hanwha Group's acquisition of the shipbuilder, which was formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.