Hanwha Ocean Subcontractors' Union's High-Altitude Protest Drags On... Pledge Made When Damages Suit Was Withdrawn in Dispute

Differences between labor and management over bonuses, wages, and the handling of industrial accidents

Production facilities remain occupied as negotiations continue

The labor-management conflict at Hanwha Ocean's Geoje site is escalating as the high-altitude sit-in by the Metal Workers' Union's Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontractors' Branch continues on a crane.

Amid conflicting claims over bonuses and wages, the handling of industrial accidents, and procedures for bargaining with the principal contractor, the parties' compliance with an agreement reached last year when a damages lawsuit was withdrawn has also emerged as an issue.

Hanwha Ocean has disputed claims cited by the subcontractors' branch as reasons for the sit-in, including unequal bonuses, cuts to real wages, excessive on-site control, concealment of industrial accidents, and refusal to bargain. The company says it has continued to support partner companies and take safety-management measures, and that bargaining procedures have been conducted in accordance with the law.

Regarding bonuses, the company said it announced at a win-win cooperation declaration ceremony between the principal contractor and subcontractors in January 2026 that bonus rates for in-house partner companies would be set at the same level as those for principal-contractor employees, and that it had followed through on this commitment.

It also said it had raised rates paid to partner companies by an average of around 5% annually since 2023. The subcontractors' branch, however, maintains that unequal bonuses and cuts to real wages have not been addressed.

The two sides also differ over on-site management and the handling of industrial accidents. The company countered that the union interprets efforts to ensure compliance with working hours and campaigns promoting basic safety rules as excessive control or punishment. In response to claims of concealed industrial accidents, it said it had identified and investigated two unreported industrial accidents at a painting subcontractor, and was taking action through its own disciplinary review committee.

Conflict over bargaining with the principal contractor is also continuing. The company said it posted a bargaining notice for the subcontractors' branch on March 10, 2026, shortly after the amended Trade Union Act took effect, but legal proceedings followed after it was taken to the regional labor relations commission over the omission of a notice concerning the Welliv branch, which represents a contract catering company. The company says it has stated that it would bargain depending on the outcome of the suspension-of-execution proceedings. The subcontractors' branch cites bargaining with the principal contractor as a reason for its sit-in.

Attention has returned to an agreement signed after Hanwha Ocean withdrew a 47 billion won damages lawsuit against the Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong subcontractors' branch in October 2025. The agreement included language to the effect that "the same situation should not recur in the future." However, on September 30, 2026, the subcontractors' branch began a high-altitude sit-in on a crane and factory roofs.

The company maintains that the occupation of production facilities has recurred despite the lawsuit's withdrawal and the agreement, contrary to the agreement's intent. To assess the scope of the commitments made at the time and the nature of the current sit-in, the agreement and the parties' accounts need to be considered together.

Labor-management negotiations are continuing. The two sides held their second round of talks on October 15, but the subcontractors' branch's high-altitude sit-in is ongoing. With the occupation of production facilities continuing even as negotiations proceed, resolving the conflict is likely to take more time.

Hanwha Ocean says the occupation of production facilities should stop and the issues should be resolved through negotiations. However, with disagreements over bonuses and wages, the handling of industrial accidents, and bargaining procedures still unresolved, addressing the conflict will require a thorough examination of the grounds for both sides' claims and whether the agreement has been fulfilled.

An industry official said, "Illegal acts and throwing tantrums should no longer be tolerated in our society," adding, "The subcontractors' branch should stop making claims that contradict the facts and engaging in illegal occupations, return to the bargaining table, and have an honest discussion with the company."

Members of the Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontractors' Branch are staging a sit-in atop a crane at Hanwha Ocean's facilities after occupying it on the 30th of last month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.