To improve the poor working conditions caused by the Multi-level Subcontracting, subcontractors have been demanding direct bargaining with the prime contractor shipbuilders for years. However, the prime contractor shipbuilders have been repressing subcontractors who strike for direct bargaining by filing criminal charges against them and suing them for KRW 47 billion in damages. In February 2025, a court convicted members of the Geoje Tongyeong Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontracting Branch of  Korea Metal Workers' Union of obstruction of business for their sit-in protests.