Metal Workers Launch Strike With "High-Altitude Sit-In" at Hyundai Shipyard

The protracted annual wage negotiations between the Metal Workers Union and HD Hyundai for its shipyards are continuing without an agreement, while the union called management’s negotiations “insincere.” Workers at the three shipyards in South Korea staged a partial strike on September 10, with reports that they will begin a general strike starting on the 11th, which is likely to further impact production at the yards.

To demonstrate the union’s frustration with the slow pace of the talks, the branch head of the union, Baekho-seon, began a “50-meter-high sit-in.” On the morning of the 10th, coinciding with the start of a seven-hour strike at the yard, the head of the union branch climbed the yard’s 164-foot-tall crane used to move blocks. He emphasized the lack of progress and no new offers from management for the wage negotiations while urging management “to make a decision.”

Workers at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ yard were on strike for the day, while union members at the HD Hyundai Mipo and Samho yards stopped work in the afternoon. Reports said there have been between 10 and 20 negotiating sessions since May and that the union staged seven partial strikes at HHI and more than 10 at all the facilities, and now will move to a full strike.

 

The union branch head climbed the key crane and banners have been unfurled (Metal Workers Union)

 

Baekho-seon called the wage demands “completely justified” and said they are “neither excessive nor unusual compared to the company’s ability to pay.” The talks have reportedly been stalled with no new offer from management since union members in mid-July rejected a tentative agreement. The union asserted that the workers “are not being treated with respect or compensated” for their role in helping to elevate the yards’ importance with the Make American Shipbuilding Great (MASGA) initiative. The union rejected the tentative agreement which called for an increase in base pay of approximately $100 and a $3,800 bonus.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the holding company for the shipbuilding operations, reported on September 8 that it has received orders for a total of 86 ships worth $11.75 billion so far in 2025, achieving 65 percent of its annual order target of $18.05 billion. Media reports, however, indicate that the union's partial strikes and now the sit-in on the critical crane are impacting production. As part of its protests, union members have also used motorcycles on the main roads to slow or stop the movement of blocks and equipment.

Tensions with the union also increased after the company announced plans to merge the shipyards in Ulsan, with Mipo becoming an offshoot of HHI. The union fears job transfers and reassignments after the merger. It has threatened to oppose the merger and the MASGA initiative, which was a key part of the trade and tariff negotiations between the Koreans and the Trump administration.