(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jul. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Subcontractors of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Samsung Heavy Industries, the three largest players in the nation’s shipbuilding industry, have asked the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) to carry out an in-depth investigation into illegal practices among the ‘big three’.
A single committee instigated to fight shipbuilder malpractices was formed with participation from 28 DSME subcontractors, 17 Hyundai subcontractors and four Samsung subcontractors.
The committee held a press conference explaining such efforts yesterday at the Central Government Complex in Seoul.
According to the committee, the three companies hired temporary workers through subcontractors while drawing up false employment subcontract agreements in order bypass the law.
The committee claims that the major companies only paid 50 percent to 60 percent of what was actually agreed in the contracts.
Eventually, the funds provided by the three companies were insufficient to cover manpower costs provided by their subcontractors, causing some to go bankrupt after failing to pay insurance bills, taxes and other fees.
The committee also singled out DSME for not taking any steps to rectify the issue, even after being investigated thoroughly by the KFTC recently for not honoring its agreements and failing to pay outstanding debts to subcontractors.
H. S. Seo (hsseo@koreabizwire.com)
