Korean media are reporting that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) is adopting a facial recognition system to check the entry and exit of outsourced workers, but this move has been criticized and complained against by several labor unions and has further deepened the conflict between the two sides.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Hyundai Heavy Industries Branch, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Internal Outsourcing labor union, Ulsan Solidarity for Human Rights, and the Confederation of Trade Unions Ulsan Regional Headquarters announced that the groups have jointly filed a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor of Korea (MOEL) against Korea’s Act on the Promotion of Employee’s Participation and Cooperation and the Basic Labor Act, Articles 114 and 94.
Recently, the above mentioned labor union groups held a press conference in front of MOEL’s Ulsan local office, claiming, “Excluding regular workers, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries excessively collects personal information including biometric information for only 18,000 in-house outsourced corporate workers and carries out continuous surveillance and control through closed circuit television (CCTV), which is a clear case of discrimination and human rights violation.” And added: “If outsourced workers do not sign a personal information agreement, it will be difficult to extend their labor contracts, which is a clear violation of the Basic Labor Act, as any change in employment rules that is detrimental to the employment must be agreed to by the union or a majority of the workers in advance.”
According to the report, since April this year, the outsourcing companies of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have been consulting on the introduction of the facial recognition system on the grounds of introducing the automated entry and exit system, preventing false registration and hosting system.
The results showed that all 191 outsourcing companies and 93% of individual workers agreed to the introduction of the facial recognition system; on the other hand, more than 4,000 outsourcing workers expressed their positions by signing the Opposition Petition.
The union of outsourcing companies said, “The personal information agreement shows that outsourcing companies with a lack of job security signed the agreement without detailed explanations and in an atmosphere of intimidation by managers. We are angry that HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which boasts of being the world’s top shipbuilder, not only denies the provisions of forced labor under International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 29, violates the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, the Act on the Promotion of Worker Participation and Cooperation, and the Basic Labor Act, but blames it on the outsourcing companies, seemingly having nothing to do with the matter.”
Also in April of this year, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ internal supplier committee filed a lawsuit against seven HD Hyundai Heavy Industries labor union executives with the Korean police for obstruction of official business and damage to property. At that time, the union removed about 80 security access control systems installed in supplier areas without authorization.
Currently, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has denied the allegations of the union groups mentioned above that the face recognition system was introduced to monitor and control unofficial workers, saying that the system is distinctly different from CCTV, and is only used for “simple access management” and does not have a recording function.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries officials said, “The company’s partners require effective access control for their workers and have sought the consent of each employee before introducing the security access system. Particularly, the unauthorized destruction of the security access control system installed in the supplier’s area by the union has constituted a clear crime of property damage.”