The company has promised workers a 4.5% wage increase.

South Korea-based Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has entered a deal with contract workers that will end a 51-day strike after a much smaller pay raise than earlier demanded was agreed on.

One of the ‘big three’ shipbuilders in the country, DSME has now increased the wages of subcontractors by 4.5% and guaranteed jobs for workers at some subcontracting companies that could shutter, reported Reuters.

More than 10,000 of Daewoo’s subcontracted workers asked for a 30% pay raise and started a strike that hampered construction activities at the firm’s main yard.

Around 100 subcontractors occupied the main dock at the shipyard run by DSME in the southern city of Geoje.

The company claimed that each day of the strike caused it to lose around $24m. The strike action also delayed the deliveries of eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels.

The deal, which also promises better time-off benefits and other improvements, has been accepted by union officials and subcontractors.

Companies contracted to DSME and union officials continued talks for more than 12 hours on Wednesday but failed to reach an agreement, as damage compensation demanded by the company and its subcontracting firms for losses due to the strike emerged as a key sticking point, according to the Korea Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU), which represents the strikers

In a statement, DSME was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Concerning problems that arose from the strike process, we will respond in accordance with the law and principles.”

Earlier this month, DSME canceled a second order for an LNG carrier from Russian state shipping company Sovcomflot following a payment deadline that was missed.

As Lee Kim Choon-taek, a senior official at the sub-contract shipyard workers’ union, also said that workers’ willingness to compromise depended on DSME and subcontracting companies dropping any plans to seek damages, though there had been no notice yet of lawsuits launched against them.

DSME’s vessels are highly appreciated for their finest quality in the world’s shipbuilding market where established major players in the world economy such as Europe and America compete.

Since being reborn as an independent company in October 2000, DSME has been creating a corporate culture on the core values of Trust and Passion.