HD Hyundai Heavy union launches partial strike as shipyard wage talks break down
Union delegates begin rotating walkouts across the Ulsan yard after rejecting management pay terms, testing delivery schedules for high-value gas carriers.
HLBy Hyun-jung Lee, Korea correspondent, shipbuilding and defense··Updated September 1, 2026·3 min read
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The labor union at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries rejected a company wage proposal on Sept. 1, 2026, triggering phased rotating strikes across its main shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea.
The walkout began on Sept. 2, 2026, when union leaders and shop-floor representatives held a seven-hour work stoppage, marking the fourth consecutive year of industrial action at the world’s largest shipbuilding complex.
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Korea correspondent, shipbuilding and defense — Hyun-jung Lee reports on Korean yards, order books and naval programs, and on the defense export contracts that increasingly sit alongside them.
