The Federation of Korean Chemical Workers' Unions holds a launch ceremony for its ready-mix concrete division. [Provided by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions]
The Federation of Korean Chemical Workers' Unions holds a launch ceremony for its ready-mix concrete division. [Provided by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions]

The Federation of Korean Chemical Workers' Unions, affiliated with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, has launched a ready-mix concrete division to coordinate collective action among workers in the ready-mix manufacturing sector and called on the Economic, Social and Labor Council to establish a dedicated ready-mix industry subcommittee.

The move comes as ready-mix concrete shipments have fallen more than 40 percent over the past eight years amid a prolonged construction slump, with manufacturing workers arguing they must have a direct voice in industry policy discussions to address structural restructuring and job insecurity.

According to labor circles, the federation held a launch ceremony for the division Monday at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. The division brings together 10 member unions in the ready-mix manufacturing sector, representing about 1,000 union members. Kim Eui-don, chairman of the Dongyang union, was named division chair.

The division's central demand is the creation of a ready-mix industry subcommittee within the Economic, Social and Labor Council — a presidential advisory body for social dialogue — to give manufacturing workers a permanent institutional channel for participating in discussions on industry policy and regulatory reform.

The federation said policy and regulatory discussions concerning the ready-mix industry have long been dominated by employers, construction companies, transport operators and government agencies. Manufacturing workers — who handle production, shipping, quality control, equipment management, sales and administration — have had virtually no institutional avenue to participate in decision-making, even as they bear the direct impact of industry changes.

The federation expressed particular concern that the crisis gripping the ready-mix industry amid the construction downturn could spill over into job insecurity on the factory floor.

According to the Korea Ready Mixed Concrete Industry Association's 2025 statistical yearbook, nationwide ready-mix shipments fell 44.0 percent from 174.29 million cubic meters in 2017 to 97.66 million cubic meters last year. Over the same period, the average factory utilization rate dropped 13.34 percentage points, from 28.52 percent to 15.18 percent — a sign that the volume needed to keep factories running normally has shrunk sharply.

The division said that beyond the drop in shipments and factory consolidation, fluctuations in raw materials prices and transport costs, along with public procurement systems and various industry regulations, are directly affecting employment and working conditions on the factory floor. It argued that collective action at the industry level — beyond individual workplaces — is needed to prevent the burden of falling volumes and business restructuring from being passed on to workers through layoffs, heavier workloads or job insecurity.

The division also plans to expand its membership. According to its own survey, there were about 18,000 ready-mix manufacturing workers nationwide as of last year. With roughly 1,000 members currently enrolled, the unionization rate stands at about 5.6 percent. The division has set a target of raising that rate to more than 20 percent.

"Ready-mix manufacturing workers are directly affected by the industry's crisis and structural changes, yet have had no part in shaping the policies that govern it," division chair Kim said. "Through the establishment of a ready-mix industry subcommittee within the Economic, Social and Labor Council, we will ensure that employment, safety and working conditions for manufacturing workers are reflected in industry policy."

Park Gyeon-u, chairman of the Federation of Korean Chemical Workers' Unions, said the opinions of manufacturing workers on the production floor must be incorporated into policy discussions if the ready-mix industry is to remain sustainable. "We will support the division at the federation level so it can gather the demands of workers on the ground and participate in social dialogue," he said.

The division plans to pursue five priorities: establishing a ready-mix industry subcommittee within the Economic, Social and Labor Council, organizing non-unionized workers, pushing for regulatory reform in the ready-mix industry, mounting a joint response on employment and industrial safety, and engaging with government and National Assembly policy.

A separate effort to build an industry-wide union also got underway the same day. The federation held a founding general assembly for the National Ready-Mix Manufacturing Workers' Union on Monday afternoon at the same venue as the division launch. The newly established union plans to expand membership enrollment among ready-mix manufacturing workers across the country.


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