hankyoreh

the head of the Ssangyong Motors chapter of the Korean Metal Workers Union

Ssangyong Motors management and labor reached a dramatic agreement on Thursday, bringing an end to a 77-day strike and a fierce clash between the two parties. Management has agreed to reduce the scale of layoffs and the union has accepted the company’s revised restructuring plan.

At a representatives’ meeting held at noon on Thursday, Ssangyong Motors joint receiver Park Young-tae and Han Sang-kyun, the head of the Ssangyong Motors chapter of the Korean Metal Workers Union, said the company will be implementing an emergency human resources management plan for the 974 union members who are affected by the layoffs, allowing them a choice of unpaid leave, transfers to sales positions, transfers to spin-offs, or voluntary resignation. They also announced that after sufficient discussion with those affected, a restructuring plan was agreed upon where 48 percent are being given unpaid leave or are being transferred to sales positions, and 52 percent are voluntarily resigning or shifting to spin-offs.

The sudden compromise reached by labor and management Thursday was made possible when the union, which had been calling for a withdrawal of the layoff plan for 974 workers when management announced it on June 6, and the company, which had insisted on carrying out the plan, backed off. The efforts of a group of mediators apparently have played a part in securing this agreement. Democratic Party Lawmaker Jung Jang-seon, Democratic Labor Party Lawmaker Kwon Young-ghil, Grand National Party Lawmaker Won Yoo-chul, and Mayor Myeong-ho of Pyeongtaek participated in this ad-hoc group. This group presented a plan on Wednesday and Thursday for shifting the ratio of fired to non-fired workers from 60-40 to 50-50, as proposed by the company on Aug. 2, and this was essentially the plan that was ultimately agreed upon by both sides.

Discussions were held between labor and management between noon to 1:18 p.m. at a container temporarily placed in the “peace zone” between the Pyeongtaek plant’s main building and the paint shop. Han communicated the outcome of the discussions at a report back at 3:00 p.m. to the rest of the union members in the adjacent paint shop building and obtained consensus on the revised plan’s terms.

Representatives of labor and management signed an agreement at the automaker’s main building at 6:00 p.m. Once the agreement was signed, the more than 400 union members, who have remained since the factory occupation began 77 days ago on May 22, concluded their strike.

Labor and management also held separate working-level discussions Thursday, where decisions were reached that allow workers on unpaid leave to engage in job rotation after one year, depending on production levels, and to serve in sales positions with wages of 500,000 Won per month for one year. It has also been decided that workers who take an unpaid leave, transfer to sales positions or voluntarily retire during this restructuring period will be fairly reinstated or rehired if a demand for new workers arises in the future as a result of an improvement in the company’s financial situation. It was further agreed that an additional two-month voluntary retirement allowance will be paid to workers taking unpaid leave or retiring voluntarily, while livelihood security support, such as job placement, will be provided in cooperation with central and local governments and cooperating firms.

Meanwhile, the police have been checking the identification of union members leaving the factory after the strike, and have booked and investigated some 100 members, including 21 union officials for whom arrest warrants have been issued.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]