Metal workers' strike disrupts production of cars, ships, steel

Members of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union chant a slogan during a rally in front of the Federation of Korean Industries headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. Newsis

Around 60,000 members of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) went on an eight-hour strike, Wednesday, causing setbacks in the production of cars, ships and steel products at manufacturing plants across the country.

The collective action was a protest against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s business-friendly policies, with a central goal of supporting the passage of a revision bill to the labor-friendly Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. Dubbed the “yellow envelope bill” and led by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the bill seeks to make it illegal for management to demand compensation from workers for damages incurred from illegal strikes.

“We will not give up protecting the basic human rights of all workers, including those who are subcontracted, indirectly employed and migrants,” the KMWU said in a statement. “Unless the management and the government changes its mind, we will go on second and third rounds of general strikes.”

The Hyundai Motor union, which is the largest organization under the KMWU, did not join the general strike, as the carmaker’s labor and management reached a tentative agreement on wages and other welfare benefits earlier this week.

However, unionized workers at Hyundai Motor’s subcontractors joined the strike, leading to a suspension of the carmaker’s production lines in Ulsan due to a disrupted supply of automotive components. Additionally, leaders from the Hyundai Motor union attended the KMWU’s massive rally in Seoul, Wednesday.

Kia, the sister company of Hyundai Motor, suffered a setback in car production at its Gwangju factory, as subcontracted workers joined the general strike.

Unionized workers at GM Korea, who stopped working since Monday, also joined the KMWU’s collective action. They plan to continue their strike until Thursday.

Hanwha Ocean’s union, which secured the legal right to strike, left the company’s shipyard, Wednesday.

Unionized workers at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries supported the KMWU’s protest, although they have yet to secure the legal right to strike. They plan to vote on a plan for their collective action between July 22 and 24.

In the steelmaking sector, unionized workers at Hyundai Steel’s Dangjin plant in South Chungcheong Province joined the strike.

Business groups urged the government to take stern measures against the KMWU’s action, which they view is politically motivated and unrelated to wages or other labor issues.

“The KMWU’s strike is an illegal political strike aimed at law revisions and the impeachment of the president,” the Korea Enterprises Federation said in a statement, Tuesday. “Businesspeople are seriously worried about the KMWU’s repeated illegal strikes, which undermine the rule of law.”

On the day of the KMWU’s strike, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), which is the largest among the tech firm’s multiple unions, declared an “indefinite general strike,” as its three-day strike came to an end.

The NSEU initially planned to start staging another five-day strike on July 15, but the union changed its plan, citing management’s refusal to communicate.

Although the NSEU is currently part of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the KMWU has supported the first-ever strike at Samsung Electronics in an apparent effort to attract the conglomerate’s union to the KCTU, which is known for being more militant than the FKTU.