Progressive Party leaders visit Geoje Hanwha Ocean subcontractor union tent protest site

(Geoje = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Young-min = The Progressive Party's Gyeongnam Provincial Party announced that party leader Kim Jong-hoon, National Assembly member Jeong Hye-kyung, and Gyeongnam Provincial Party Chairman Jeon Hee-young visited the tent protest site of the Hanwha Ocean subcontractor union in Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do on the 4th.

They listened to union members' grievances during the 'Inequality Field Campaign' schedule.

We also toured the basement lounge and laundry room, where electricity was cut off due to the extreme rain that fell during the Liberation Day holiday last month.

At the labor-management-government meeting that followed, attendees included the Geotong Notice and Wellive Branches of the Gyeongnam Branch of the Metal Workers' Union, a labor union of Hanwha Ocean's subcontractors, the Tongyeong Branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Gyeongnam Headquarters of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, and Hanwha Ocean officials.

CEO Kim urged Hanwha Ocean, “With the holidays approaching, we must stop making excuses and begin sincere negotiations with subcontracted workers immediately.”

Rep. Jeong said, "If a company makes huge profits but neglects subcontractors' wage arrears and unfair labor practices and even avoids negotiations, this issue will be seriously investigated in the upcoming government audit."

The Geotong Notice Association and the Wellive Branch, which have been protesting for over 190 days, claimed that their members were excluded from performance bonus payments even though they had worked for decades, and that Hanwha Ocean was delaying negotiations with the main contract due to administrative litigation.