HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Reaches Wage-and-Collective Bargaining Deal... Autumn Labor Struggle Clears Hurdle as President Lee and Kisun Chung Meet

[Financial News] A tentative wage-and-collective bargaining agreement was reached between labor and management at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries on the 30th, the day President Lee Jae Myung and HD Hyundai Chairman Kisun Chung met. The "autumn labor struggle," which had threatened an all-out strike and a joint strike across the shipbuilding industry, is now moving toward resolution following the meeting between President Lee and Chairman Chung.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries held a launch ceremony at its Ulsan Shipyard for ROKS Daeho Kim Jongseo, the third 8,200-ton-class next-generation Aegis destroyer. Chairman Chung, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Vice Chairman Lee Sang-kyun and President Joo Won-ho attended, along with President Lee and government and military officials.
On the morning of the same day, shortly before the launch ceremony, the Hyundai Heavy Industries branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) announced that labor and management had reached a tentative agreement. The labor dispute was settled before President Lee visited Ulsan. The union had been informed of President Lee's planned visit to the Ulsan Shipyard before the Chuseok holiday. <See page 12 of our Sept. 29, 2026, edition>As a result, internal disagreement emerged over whether to proceed with the all-out strike announced for after Chuseok. Marathon negotiations began the previous day, just one week after management proposed resuming talks. This led to the dramatic agreement between labor and management just before the launch ceremony.
The union announced that the tentative agreement centers on a 120,000-won increase in base pay, including a 50,000-won seniority-based raise, saying, "We established a stable fixed-pay system so that workers' lives will not be shaken by the shipbuilding industry's recurring booms and downturns." The increase in base pay was 10,000 won higher than management's offer immediately before it declared the negotiations deadlocked.
The package includes a lump-sum payment of 11 million won, including a 1 million-won gift certificate, as well as 200% of contractual wages. A performance-based bonus will also be paid at the end of the year. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said that each union member will receive 40.56 million won. That figure is more than 10 million won higher than last year. The agreement does not include the retirement-age extension that attracted attention after being specified in the labor-management agreement at Hyundai Motor. Instead, employees scheduled for mandatory retirement will receive 14 days of leave, and the special award will be increased to as much as 4 million won.
The tentative agreement will be put to a vote by union members on the 2nd. If it wins a majority, the wage-and-collective bargaining process will officially conclude.
At the launch ceremony, Chairman Chung said, "This is a significant year, marking 50 years since HD Hyundai Heavy Industries began developing ROKS Ulsan, South Korea's first domestically built combat ship," and vowed, "The K-maritime defense industry has made remarkable strides since construction began on ROKS Ulsan. With a sense of duty to build vessels that protect the world's seas, we will firmly safeguard South Korea's economy and security."

[email protected] Kim Yun-ho, Choi Su-sang Reporter