"If the Dock Shuts Down, Geoje's Economy and Shipbuilding Competitiveness Will Be Shaken"... Hanwha Ocean Supervisors and Foremen Warn Over Subcontractors' Branch Sit-In

Raised concerns over production disruptions and local safety

430 supervisors and foremen call for the sit-in to end

Shop-floor supervisors and foremen at Hanwha Ocean's Geoje site held banners to voice concern over the subcontractors' union's high-altitude sit-in protest and occupation of production facilities. They called for the protest to end, saying it could undermine the recovery of the shipbuilding industry and burden the local economy.

On the afternoon of the 5th, the Hanwha Ocean Supervisors' Council held a rally at the Geoje site to condemn the occupation of production facilities and high-altitude sit-in protest by the Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontractors' Branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union. A banner at the rally read, "Illegal high-altitude sit-in protests are eroding the competitiveness of shipbuilding. Don't hold back South Korea's shipbuilding industry!"

Members of the Hanwha Ocean Supervisors' Council condemn the occupation of production facilities and the high-altitude protest by the Geoje-Tongyeong-Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontractors Branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union at the Geoje shipyard on the afternoon of the 5th.

In a statement, the council said production disruptions could affect the competitiveness and international credibility of the Korean shipbuilding industry as a whole. It said that, as competition for orders intensifies in the global shipbuilding market, disruptions to production schedules could give rival countries such as China and Japan an unintended advantage.

The council also raised concerns that measures the company had introduced to improve labor-management relations had been followed by the sit-in protest. It noted that the company had withdrawn a KRW 47 billion damages lawsuit related to past disputes and agreed to pay the same performance bonuses to in-house and subcontracted workers. The council described these as measures aimed at promoting cooperation, and said it regretted that the subcontractors' branch had responded by occupying production facilities and staging a high-altitude sit-in protest.

The council also expressed concern about the impact on the local economy. It claimed that the occupation of a dock in the past had caused losses of about KRW 800 billion, and stressed that repeated production disruptions could also burden subcontractors, local small-business owners, and the livelihoods of Geoje residents.

The council also pointed to the presence of firefighters and emergency medical personnel on standby at the high-altitude protest site. It said that if limited local emergency-response personnel were tied up at the site for an extended period, there could be gaps in the response to other emergency patients. The council called for the protest to end immediately.

The council urged the company to respond to illegal acts in accordance with the law and established principles. It said those staging the protest, as well as anyone supporting or aiding them, should be held legally accountable.

The rally marked a public expression of opposition by Hanwha Ocean production-site managers to the subcontractors' branch's protest. However, the labor-management issues behind the protest, the branch's demands, and the company's position also need to be considered. Addressing concerns about production disruptions and workplace safety will require negotiations between the parties and verification of the facts.

The Hanwha Ocean Supervisors' Council is made up of about 430 supervisors and foremen responsible for management duties at the Geoje site's production facilities. The council says its main roles are to promote a safe working environment and maintain order on the shop floor.

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