59 E-7 Foreign Workers in Ulsan Shipbuilding Industry File Collective Complaint Over Unpaid Wages

【Financial News, Ulsan = Reporter Choi Soo-sang】 Foreign workers employed in Ulsan’s shipbuilding industry are drawing attention after filing a collective petition with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, saying they have not received wages that meet the requirements for the General Skilled Worker (E-7-3) visa.
The Ulsan Regional Headquarters of the KCTU, the Hyundai Heavy Industries Branch and the In-house Subcontractors’ Branch of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU), and other groups held a press conference outside the Ulsan Dongbu District Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 28th. They claimed, “HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ in-house subcontractors submitted employment contracts pegged to 70% of GNI to the immigration office, but in practice paid only the minimum wage and pocketed the wage difference for three years,” adding, “Most companies failed to properly provide migrant workers with copies of their employment contracts and concealed the wage theft.”
Immediately after the press conference, they submitted a petition to the Ulsan Dongbu District Office, asking it to examine employment contracts, payslips and other documents, determine the unpaid amount for each worker, and take measures to ensure the wages are paid.
According to the petition, the workers signed employment contracts on the condition that they would receive at least 70% of the previous year’s GNI during their first three years after entering Korea. They said that although the annual wage requirement for newly arrived workers was lowered to at least 25 million won starting in October 2024, existing workers were to remain at the previous wage level.
The petition was joined by 59 migrant workers with E-7-3 visas who work or have worked for 29 in-house subcontractors of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. They claim that about 870 million won in wages is owed, an average of about 14.7 million won per person.
Local labor groups, including the KCTU, estimate that about 1,600 E-7-3 workers who entered Korea by 2024 are employed by in-house subcontractors of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. They claim that if these workers had suffered wage arrears at the same level, the losses would amount to about 23.5 billion won.

These foreign workers also called for an investigation and punishment, saying they had found that some companies required the migrant workers they employed to draw up separate side agreements in addition to the contracts submitted to immigration authorities.
An Indonesian migrant worker who attended the press conference said, “We came to Korea to work diligently, provide our labor and skills, and build a better future for our families, but the reality we faced did not always match what we were initially promised.”
Local labor groups also demanded that the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Justice develop effective measures to directly ensure an end to wage arrears and redress for migrant workers’ rights, addressing the problem of employment contracts submitted to immigration authorities not being honored, whether deliberately or persistently.
Meanwhile, about 60 Indonesian workers joined the KMWU while preparations were underway for the collective petition.

[email protected] Choi Soo-sang Reporter