[Courtesy of Daewoo Shipbuilding]
Unionized workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering endorsed a strike calling for job security Tuesday despite a warning from creditors that they could scrap a rehabilitation program for the ailing shipyard.
The proposed walkout won 85 percent of votes cast by workers in a two-day vote Monday and Tuesday. Union leaders, however, have not revealed a timetable saying they were willing to seek a negotiated settlement with creditors and management.
Daewoo Shipbuilding and two other top South Korean shipyards are under creditor-led restructuring to reduce snowballing debts that have weighed heavily on creditor banks, prompting government officials to set up an 11 trillion won restructuring fund.
The company has already presented a self-rehabilitation program worth 5.3 trillion won to reduce its cost and debt through asset sales and cuts in jobs and wages.
Last year the shipyard, hit by a delay in the construction of offshore facilities and the cancellation of orders, posted a record net loss of 5.13 trillion won, compared with a profit of 33 billion won a year earlier.
Last week, prosecutors raided Daewoo's offices and shipyard in a probe into allegations that its former executives were engaged in window dressing and accounting fraud to secure a continued flow of bank loans.
Daewoo Shipbuilding CEO Jung Sung-leep has suggested the company should curtail facilities for offshore plants to ride out its liquidity crisis. He also supported the idea of separating the company's defense section.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
