Foreign Workers Leaving Due to Low Wages and Hazardous Work Conditions in Shipbuilding Industry

High-intensity work in hazardous environments
Foreign workers leaving without permission
It’s the 5th year… ‘Beginning of 2 million won’

Recently, nine Thai welders went missing at the shipyard without going to work. This happened within a week of joining the company as a contract worker. Contrary to the company’s position of personal deviation, the union pointed out that it was due to low wages compared to the intensity of work. Last year, about 30 foreign workers left the shipyard.

All of them entered Korea on an E-7 visa (a foreign technical worker employment visa), but the industry believes that it would have been difficult for them to endure the arduous shipyard work while receiving the legal minimum wage. Even though they work overtime, overtime, and weekend work, the reality is that they do not have much money in their hands. Due to the nature of shipyards, all work is carried out outdoors, and high-risk welding and cutting work are often performed, so the possibility of industrial accidents is high.

The same is true for natives. Mr. A, who is working in the shipbuilding industry, disclosed his pay slip, saying, “The 5th year hukou salary.” Mr. A, who joined the company in 2019, worked 61.5 hours of overtime and 72 hours on holidays, received a basic salary of 2.16 million won, overtime pay of 1.44 million won, and annual allowance of 170,000 won, as well as various taxes, national pension, and health insurance premiums, and received 3.3 million won. Excluding overtime pay and annual leave pay, it is in the low 2 million won range.

Netizens who saw this responded with regret, saying, “I worked so many overtime hours, but the salary is so low,” “Isn’t it natural that there is no one to pay for this money?”

In the third quarter of this year, the number of production workers in the shipbuilding industry was 12,872, and the government announced that it would temporarily introduce new foreign workers by 5,000 annually by 2025 to solve the manpower shortage in the shipbuilding industry. The problem seems difficult to solve.

Reporter Yumin Kim