Korea’s unionized metal workers launch nationwide strike

The labor union of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries is counting the votes for and against the strike at the in-house gym on July 11. [Photo by Yonhap]

Members of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) under the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) will launch a general strike on Wednesday, which will be participated by the labor unions of Hyundai Motor Co. and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.

The Korean Metal Workers’ Union issued instructions for all its members to engage in a minimum of two hours of strike, both day and night. The union said it will hold a nationwide strike rally in 12 regions, including Seoul, Gyeonggi, Ulsan, Gwangju-Jeonnam, Daegu, Daejeon, and Busan.

The strike is part of the KCTU’s ongoing July nationwide strike campaign, which demands the resignation of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

“After one year of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, workers and the general public are under threat to their right to survival,” said the KMWU, adding that “they can no longer tolerate a government that defines workers as enemies.”

The strike includes the participation of the Hyundai Motor Union, the largest union of its kind in the country with around 44,000 members. The Hyundai Motor Union has instructed its morning and afternoon shift workers to down tools for a total of four hours, two hours each.

Accordingly, morning shift workers will leave their workplaces two hours before the usual departure time of 3:30 p.m. and gather at assembly points or return home.

Afternoon shift workers will also leave work two hours earlier, departing at 10:10 p.m. instead of the usual departure time of 12:10 a.m.

This strike by the Hyundai Motor Union is the first since 2018.

The union affiliated with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, another major company and representative shipbuilding enterprise in the Ulsan region, is also participating in the strike. The union plans to engage in a partial strike for three hours starting from 2 p.m.

KMWU members in the Ulsan region, including the two major company unions, will hold a strike rally at a square in Taehwagang Station at 2 p.m.

Similar regional strike rallies will take place in front of the POSCO plant in Gwangyang, in front of the Hankook Tire factory in Daejeon, in front of Busan Station, and in front of the Ministry of Employment and Labor in Sejong.