South Korean shipbuilders at Hyundai Heavy Industries strike after two years without a new contract
Workers at South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) have been staging protests against the company this past week, as they have been working without a new contract since negotiations began in May 2019. With workers’ anger building up, the union called strikes that began on July 6 after the failure of talks with management. The strike, the first since 2019, was initially set to last through last Friday, but has been extended another week.
Workers at HHI, the world’s largest shipbuilder, remain locked in conflict with the company even as the company sees a boom in profits. As of last week, HHI had already fulfilled 90 percent of its sales goals for this year. According to Clarksons Research, South Korea received 44 percent of shipbuilding orders globally in June alone and is expected to lead the world in total orders received at the end of the year.