The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that on the 9th it held a town hall meeting titled "Shipbuilding Renaissance, Creating Good Jobs Together" at Dong-gu Office in Ulsan.
This event was a follow-up measure to President Lee Jaemyung's town hall meeting "Listening to the Heart of Ulsan" held on January 23. It was organized to seek practical solutions that would ensure the revival of "K-Shipbuilding" does not end as a short-term cycle, but instead leads to a virtuous cycle of win-win cooperation between prime contractors and subcontractors, fostering skilled young workers and helping them settle in local communities, and further, achieving shared growth with local small business owners.
For this town hall meeting, the Ministry of Employment and Labor invited around 100 participants, including labor and management representatives from the four major shipbuilders (HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, and HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries), students from Meister high schools who will grow into the next generation of skilled shipbuilding workers, and local small business owners whose livelihoods are closely linked with the shipbuilding industry. Also in attendance were Kim Jonghun, Mayor of Ulsan Dong-gu; Byeon Kwangyong, Mayor of Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province; Kim Taeseon, National Assembly member representing Ulsan Dong-gu; labor-management relations expert Professor Jeong Heungjun of the Korea University of Technology and Education; and Park Jongsik, researcher at the Korea Labor Institute.
During the two-hour event, Minister Kim Younghoon and the participants engaged in intensive policy discussions. Participants conveyed a wide range of concerns and policy proposals, including: calling on large corporations and the government to improve working conditions, such as addressing low wages for in-house subcontracted workers; stressing the need for integrated support measures such as on-site customized vocational training and improvements in housing and living conditions to promote youth employment in the shipbuilding industry; and suggesting that expanding recruitment of domestic workers could help revitalize local commercial districts.
Minister Kim Younghoon stated, "In order for us to truly say that this is a real renaissance befitting the global status of K-Shipbuilding, we must be able to answer whether our workers are guaranteed fair treatment and safety, whether the skilled workers who left and the young people dreaming of their future are once again gathering in Ulsan and Geoje, and whether the vitality of the shipyards is spreading beyond their walls into the neighborhood commercial districts," emphasizing that "the shipbuilding renaissance must be a 'renaissance of people.'"
He added, "For the sustainable development of both the shipbuilding industry and the regional economy, the central and local governments, as well as labor and management on the ground, must work together."
The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to actively reflect the suggestions raised during this town hall meeting in its employment policy.
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