Workers at the world’s largest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries have endorsed a strike motion, threatening the first walkout in 18 years, a union spokesman said Thursday.

More than 97 percent of some 10,000 workers who took part in the vote Wednesday approved the motion after marathon pay negotiations with the management of the Korean company broke down on Sept. 19.

“Negotiations will resume Friday and it will depend on what comes of the talks as to whether we will launch a strike,” union spokesman Kim Hyeong-gyun told AFP.

Union demands include a 6.5 percent raise in basic pay and a one-off bonus equal to 10 weeks’ wages.

Kim said young workers had traditionally filled out their low basic salary packages with bonuses and by working overtime.

“But the company started cutting overtime pay and bonuses last year, citing a weaker balance sheet,” he said.

South Korean shipbuilders have been hit by a global economic slowdown and growing competition from Chinese rivals over the past several years.

Hyundai Heavy suffered its worst-ever quarterly slump in the second quarter, logging a net loss of 617 billion won ($585 million). It was a reverse from 66.8 billion won net profit a year earlier.

In the face of such adversity, the shipbuilder has been stepping up its reform drive by bringing changes in its organization and business portfolio. It has also initiated a massive downsizing plan.

As a part of those plans, Hyundai Heavy has decided to streamline its planning division and also create an integrated shipbuilding sales unit by merging the sales functions of its two shipbuilding-related affiliates.

By Seo Jee-yeon and news reports
(jyseo@heraldcorp.com)