SOUTH KOREA - A major industrial labour union in South Korea has launched a membership drive targeting migrant workers at Hyundai’s shipbuilding complex in Ulsan.

The initiative is aimed at expanding union representation among thousands of subcontracted workers, many of whom are foreign nationals.

The campaign comes as union members prepare for upcoming negotiations with the company.

A senior official from the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) said the effort seeks to integrate migrant workers into the union structure so they can benefit from collective bargaining and formal labour representation.

“In many workplaces, especially in the shipyards, the number of migrant workers is growing rapidly, and they are often forced to endure poor conditions while left in a blind spot in terms of their rights,” the official told The Korea Times.

The three-day campaign includes early morning leaflet distribution at shipyard entrances.

The union is also using multilingual materials, QR code surveys and mobile broadcast trucks to reach workers.

Messages are being delivered in several languages, including English, Chinese, Nepali and Vietnamese.

According to the union, the campaign specifically targets migrant workers employed through subcontracting firms.

The KMWU said recent amendments to South Korea’s Trade Union Act, commonly referred to as the “yellow envelope law”, have created new opportunities for subcontracted employees to negotiate directly with principal employers such as Hyundai.

Most migrant workers at the shipyard are employed under subcontracting arrangements.

The union is also encouraging Korean workers hired on fixed-term contracts to join the organisation.

It said broader membership would strengthen efforts to secure improved working conditions across the shipbuilding industry.

According to KMWU figures, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ulsan shipyard employs around 40,000 workers.

Approximately 15,000 are directly employed by the company.

The remaining 25,000 workers are employed by subcontractors, with many of them being foreign workers.

The union said migrant and subcontracted labour has become essential to maintaining shipyard operations.

“Without this pool of subcontracted and migrant labor, not a single ship could leave the yard,” the union stated.

The recent boom in the global shipbuilding industry has intensified demand for labour.

Many experienced South Korean shipyard workers reportedly left the sector in previous years because of low wages and difficult working conditions.

As a result, employers have increasingly relied on migrant workers to address labour shortages.

The KMWU said foreign workers are now a structural component of the industry rather than a temporary supplement to the workforce.

The union argued that integrating migrant workers is both a labour rights issue and a strategic necessity for future bargaining efforts.

“The government and management are filling the gap by driving migrant workers into low-wage, long-hour jobs. This is the reality behind the facade of what has been promoted as ‘K-shipbuilding,’.

“The more subcontracted and migrant workers join and participate in the union, the greater our social strength becomes — and the stronger our hand at the bargaining table,” the union said in a statement.

Despite the campaign, challenges remain for migrant workers considering union membership.

Concerns include potential retaliation from subcontracting companies and uncertainty surrounding visa status.

South Korea does not maintain official statistics specifically tracking union membership rates among foreign workers.

However, experts believe migrant worker participation remains significantly lower than the national unionisation rate, which stands at around 13 per cent among South Korean workers.