Unionized workers of the South Korean shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) staged a partial strike on Friday urging for wage increases and better working conditions, Yonhap news agency informed.
The walkout started at 8 a.m. and lasted until around noon.
The protest follows a three-hour work stoppage at the company’s headquarters in Ulsan on August 26 when around 3,500 workers voiced their dissatisfaction with the announced wage freeze.
The management of HHI announced plans to freeze wages for its workers following dismal financial results recorded in the first half of 2015 due to a decline in newbuilding orders and a downturn in the offshore oil and gas industry.
The union plans to stage two more strikes in the following two weeks, one on September 9 and another one on September 17.
Unionized workers of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) have also revealed plans to join the industrial action against their salary freeze.
As World Maritime News reported earlier, the workers are planning to hold a joint strike on September 9, Kim Hyeong-gyun, a union member of the Hyundai Heavy Industries, said.
The management of STX Heavy Industries has also imposed the freeze and the shipbuilder’s union members are about to vote on staging a strike.
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