The government unveiled measures Wednesday to narrow the gap among shipbuilding workers and improve the dual structure of main contractors and subcontractors. The dual labor structure refers to the gap in wages and working conditions between workers at main contractors and subcontractors. It has been a chronic problem in the industry over the past three decades. In short, workers at subcontractors receive 50-70 percent of the wages earned by those at main contractors while working 50 percent more than the latter.
The keyword in the latest government measures is “autonomy.” If the main contractor and subcontractor at a shipyard “autonomously” work out a win-win plan, the government will provide positive support to turn it into reality. It then told major shipbuilders to come up with such plans by early next year. However, one can hardly give a good mark to the government's plan because the structural problem is too deep-rooted to be solved by such a naive idea. Now is the time for the government carefully to grasp this contradiction at shipyards and present an alternative.
Due to the shipbuilding slump since 2016, domestic shipyards suffered heavy losses, passing a large part of the burden on to subcontractors. As a result, the number of shipbuilding workers has more than halved from 203,000 in 2015 to 93,000 last year. The situation is so serious that reportedly, “workers have left to go farm or something.” Fortunately, the global shipbuilding industry has been showing signs of recovery recently. However, as expectations for business improvement are growing, government and business officials should fundamentally fix the dual structure.
The government says unilateral regulations or fiscal input have limitations to improving the dual structure because the divergent interests of labor and management at main contractors and subcontractors are intertwined. It may be partly true, but simply calling for “autonomy” is not a solution. Policymakers must devise active measures by considering the quality of labor and establishing an appropriate wage system. Even if some agreements between labor and management are reached, their fulfillment must be premised to be a sustainable solution. That explains why policy officials should come up with follow-up measures.