HD Hyundai Strike Threatens $18bn Orderbook as Workers Demand Profit Share
Unionised workers at HD Hyundai’s Ulsan yard begin partial strikes after wage talks collapse.
The union representing workers at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Ulsan has announced a series of partial strikes after annual wage negotiations failed to reach an agreement. The action, organized by the Metal Workers’ Union Hyundai Heavy Industries branch, will begin on September 2 with a seven-hour work stoppage. Rotating strikes will follow across different sections of the yard until September 10, culminating in a four-hour strike involving all union members on September 15.
The union’s demands include a raise in the monthly base salary, a doubling of bonus payments, and a 30% share of the company’s operating profits as performance-based rewards. Additional requests cover increased vacation allowances and other financial benefits. Union leaders argue that employees endured years of financial hardship during the industry’s downturn and should now benefit from the current shipbuilding boom.
This marks the fourth consecutive year of strikes at the yard, reflecting a long-standing pattern of difficult labor negotiations. Under South Korean law, the union filed a labor dispute for mediation on August 14, but mediators reported that both sides remained far apart on key issues. A union vote later in August showed that two-thirds of members supported strike action.
HD Hyundai Heavy
Production and Safety Concerns Amid Labor Dispute: HD Hyundai
HD Hyundai’s shipbuilding division has secured 162 new orders in 2026, valued at over $18 billion, reaching nearly 78% of its annual target of $23.31 billion. The company’s orderbook includes high-value vessels such as LPG carriers, with a recent contract for four such ships signed on August 24. However, the strikes threaten to disrupt production at a time when the yard is operating at full capacity.
Safety issues have also come under scrutiny. The company recently reported an incident in which a worker lost consciousness in the boiler machinery section, prompting an investigation. As a precaution, some operations were temporarily suspended. This incident is the sixth fatality at HD Hyundai’s facilities in 2026, with four of those deaths occurring at the Ulsan shipyard.
While the union has not yet indicated plans to expand the strike beyond Ulsan, workers at the Mipo yard also participated in the strike authorization vote. Negotiations are set to continue three times a week in September, an increase from the previous schedule, though no progress has been announced. The last time HD Hyundai resolved wage talks without a strike was in 2022, and before that, in 2013, highlighting the persistent challenges in labor relations at the company.
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