hankyoreh

GM headquarters in the US is putting pressure on the GM Korea labor union, the Korean Development Bank (KDB) and the South Korean government by hinting at the possibility of placing GM Korea under court receivership. In a recent interview with Reuters, GM President Dan Ammann said that Apr. 20 was the deadline for a restructuring agreement and threatened to file for court receivership if that deadline was not met. Previously, GM International President Barry Engle told GM Korea’s union that the company might file for bankruptcy if management and labor could not reach an agreement about cutting costs by the deadline.

GM’s remarks about court receivership appear designed to force the union to make concessions and the government to provide subsidies by holding jobs and the local economy hostage. Given GM’s previous behavior, this is not surprising. But one can’t help but think that GM ought to show some degree of responsibility, considering that it’s a major stockholder, and as such, is the most to blame for GM Korea’s poor management.

Since announcing in February that it would to shut down GM Korea’s Gunsan factory, GM has not offered any concrete plan for normalizing operations at the company. More recently, it has revoked a plan to convert its loans to GM Korea into equity and has also failed to provide the KDB with due diligence material to reveal the truth about the company’s poor management. This really makes one wonder whether GM is even committed to normalizing management.

Amid these developments, it turns out that GM Korea had 2,500 applicants for voluntary resignation promise not to sue the company if their severance payment was late. The voluntary resignation application states that applicants understand that payment might be delayed for unavoidable reasons and that they will not initiate civil or criminal litigation in such a case. The company is even using the money it has promised to pay applicants for voluntary resignation as leverage against the union.

Severance is a lifeline for workers who have lost their jobs. It’s the money these families need to keep food on the table. It’s unthinkable to abruptly shut down the factory, essentially force employees to resign and then use their severance to put pressure on the union. GM needs to put an end to such brinkmanship and come up with measures to get the company back on its feet.

Pushing back against GM headquarters’ unilateral moves, GM Korea’s union stated on Apr. 17 that the result of dispute arbitration by the National Labor Relations Commission means that it has the right to go on strike. But a strike is unlikely to win over the public. Though the union has its grievances, now is the time for it to focus its efforts on saving the company by sharing the pain. The union will need the support of the public to force compromises from the GM headquarters in the United States.

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