Shipbuilding workers need a level playing field for sustainable jobs

KOREA: The IMF Shipbuilding Action Group (AG) meeting took place on 13-14 December 2010 in Seoul, hosted by IMF affiliate, the  Korean Metal Workers' Federation (KMWU). 22 participants and 2 guest speakers from Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, USA, and France held an active discussion of the agenda as follows:

• Trade union structures in the shipbuilding industry in Korea;
  East Asian shipbuilding performances and China's impact in the global market;
• Challenges to make the shipbuilding/breaking industry "Greener";
• Health & safety in the shipbuilding/breaking industry;
• Developing future activities/programs in the IMF Shipbuilding/breaking sector.
  

After the global financial crisis, economic performance and employment in the shipbuilding industry has been heavily damaged, and the industry needs to achieve a fair, level playing field in order to create a sustainable industrial base. The meeting mainly focused and shared opinions on:

• Achieving a fair and level playing field in global shipbuilding sector;
• Market factors and monitoring;
• Promoting Green technology and creating sustainable jobs;
• Impact on environment and health: Life cycle from shipbuilding to shipbreaking.

Many fatal accidents still occur in this sector all over the world, especially in Turkey (both in the shipbuilding and shipbreaking industry) and in the South Asian region (in shipbreaking). The Action Group confirmed that the IMF will continue to promote occupational health and safety (OHS) and organizing activities in the region. All the participants of the meeting agreed to hold an event/seminar promoting OHS and green jobs in the sector at the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work which will take place on September 11-15, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey, together with  the next IMF Shipbuilding/breaking meeting.

To make IMF shipbuilding/breaking sectoral activities more effective and stronger, in 2011 the IMF will conduct a research covering OHS working conditions, union structure, the global market, green jobs & technology, union policies and more.

On December 15, the Action Group visited DSME (Daewoo Shipbuilding and Maritime Engineering), one of the biggest shipyards in Korea, and met with union leaders to learn about the emerging issues of sub-contract workers in the yard.