▲ Subcontract workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. are on a strike at a dock in Geoje, 333 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on July 19, 2022. (Yonhap)

DSME strike-negotiation

Daewoo Shipbuilding, striking workers narrow differences on wage hike

GEOJE, South Korea, July 20 (Yonhap) -- Striking subcontract workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) have narrowed differences in wage negotiations with the management, raising the possibility of a deal to end the weekslong walkout, sources said Wednesday.

Demanding a 30 percent wage hike and other measures, subcontract workers have been on a wildcat strike since June 2 at the fourth-largest global shipbuilder's Okpo shipyard on the south coast, occupying a crude carrier under construction.

The walkout brought the operations of the shipyard to a standstill, causing up to trillions of won in losses.

According to the sources, the subcontract workers and the firm substantially narrowed their gap on wage hike proposals down to the labor's 5 percent and the firm's 4.5 percent in their negotiations launched Saturday.

The two sides are currently working to smooth out the subcontract workers' demand for a 10 percent wage hike for 2023 as well as the firm's official recognition of their labor union activities.

"The labor and the company sides are actively engaging in negotiations with a sense of urgency as the prolonged strike snowballed losses while the possibility of use of force is being mentioned," a source said.

On Tuesday, President Yoon Suk-yeol said he believes the country has "waited long enough" for the strike to end, hinting at the possibility of using force to break up the prolonged walkout.

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