Labor unions of Korea’s shipbuilders criticized the government and their employers, for trying to overcome a shortage workers in the industry by hiring poorly-trained migrant workers.

They claimed that Korean workers have been forced to work more to cover for the shortcomings of their foreign peers who have been tasked with jobs outside their skill sets. The critics argue migrant workers have been more vulnerable to the risk of industrial accidents due to miscommunication and insufficient safety training.

“Shipbuilding is a technology-intensive industry, so even if the government sends thousands of foreign workers to shipyards, they cannot begin to work immediately,” a leader of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union said during a press conference at the National Assembly, Friday. “Korea’s shipbuilding industry is following Japan, which collapsed over its heavy reliance on foreign workers.”

The unionized workers pointed out that foreign shipbuilding workers have deserted their jobs frequently to seek higher-paying positions so that they can pay back the money borrowed from brokers to obtain E-7 visas. They also claimed that shipbuilders also face the risk of paying significant amounts of money to their clients in compensation for delayed manufacturing caused by the use of unskilled foreign workers.

The unions urged the government and companies to focus more on attracting young skilled workers with higher salaries, rather than relying on foreigners to maintain low wages.

However, they remained cautious about the possibility of their demand being seen as hostile toward foreign workers.

Among the six requests from subcontracted workers to the companies, the labor unions called for a ban on reducing wages and welfare benefits for foreign workers.

This came after the Korea Enterprises Federation asked the government earlier this week to lower the minimum wage for migrant shipbuilding workers, so as to help make foreign labor more affordable for subcontractors of large shipbuilding companies.

The unions warned that they could join the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ general strike on July 12, if the government and shipbuilding giants continue to refuse their requests.

The HD Hyundai Heavy Industries union, which is not reaching an agreement with the management on wages, plans to take ballots from its members from July 7 to 11 to decide whether or not to walk out.

Hanwha Ocean’s union is also calling for a significant improvement in wages and welfare benefits, following Hanwha Group’s acquisition of the shipbuilder, which was formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Source: The Korea Times