hankyoreh

By Sin Dong-myeong, Ulsan correspondent and Kim So-youn, staff reporter

Conflict is escalating to extreme confrontation between in-house subcontractor employees and management at Hyundai Motor.

The focus of the dispute is the illegal use of dispatch workers, who legally must be converted to full-time status once they have served for two years or more. The automaker’s temporary worker union, which previously went on strike to demand that the conversions be carried out, is now occupying one of the factory’s pylons. With the workers saying they have no plans to come down until the matter is resolved, observers are now worried about a possible repeat of Kim Jin-suk’s nearly yearlong crane-top demonstration at Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction in Busan.

The protest began at around 10:30 pm on Oct. 17 when Choe Byeong-seung and Cheon Ui-bong ascended a 50-meter electrical pylon near the Myeongchon Gate of Hyundai Motor’s factory in Ulsan. Choe, 36, was previously dismissed from his position as an in-house subcontractor employee at Hyundai Motor. Cheon, 31, is secretary-general of the temporary worker union’s Hyundai Motor chapter.

In February, Choe won a Supreme Court ruling finally recognizing his status as a full-time employee of Hyundai Motor. He has yet to be reinstated due to ongoing litigation by the company.

As of Oct. 18, the two men remained secured to the pylon with rope, Choe at a height of 15 meters and Cheon at 20 meters. They also took paint thinner up with them as a preemptive measure against attempts by authorities to force them down. Indeed, during an attempt early on Oct. 18 by four hired security guards to climb the tower, Choe doused himself with paint thinner while putting up a fierce resistance.

What drove Hyundai Motor in-house subcontractor employees to such extreme tactics?

Observers said it was a combination of corporate defiance of the law, regular workers who see temporary workers as a kind of employment “safety valve,” and government non-intervention that drove vulnerable temporary workers onto the pylon.

The subcontractor workers’ demands are simple enough: they want the automaker to acknowledge their illegal dispatch employment status and hire them as full-time workers, as the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Supreme Court, and the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) have previously ruled.

In 2004, the Ministry of Labor ruled that workers at Hyundai Motor’s factories in Ulsan, Asan, and Jeonju were all illegal dispatch employees according to the law. In July 2010, and then again in February of this year, the Supreme Court ruled in a case filed by Choe that Hyundai Motor was an illegal employer of dispatch workers, and that Choe was already considered an employee. The NLRC, a quasi-judicial organization, likewise recognized the illegal dispatch worker status of in-house subcontractor employees at the Ulsan, Asan, and Jeonju factories.

Yet the automaker continues to hold out, refusing to acknowledge their status. The Hyundai Motor temporary worker union chapter held strikes in January and August 2005, and some 100 people were laid off, including Choe. In November 2010, the #1 factory at Ulsan was occupied for 25 days, but this only resulted in another 100 layoffs and disciplinary action against another 1,000 or so.

In August, the automaker came up with its first idea on the issue in eight years: a plan for newly hiring 3,000 in-house subcontract employees through 2015 as full-time workers. But workers said this seemingly generous decision is actually a ploy to cover up Hyundai Motor’s illegal hiring practices and that the biggest problem is the company’s refusal to recognize the illegality of the workers’ employment.

An official with the temporary worker union chapter explained, “If we accept the company‘s idea for new hires, that would mean 3,000 out of 8,000 subcontractor employees gaining full-time status, but the other 5,000 would remain lawful subcontracting employees, even though their employment is clearly illegal according to the standards of the Supreme Court ruling.”

“How can the chapter be expected to accept a plan that would negate the Supreme Court ruling in its favor?” the official asked.

Also, if recognized as illegal dispatch employees, the workers could receive the difference of their past wages from those of regular workers and have their term of service recognized for benefits. If they are hired as new employees, they would have to suffer a loss. Around 5,000 of the subcontractor employees have worked at Hyundai Motor for nearly a decade.

Another reason for the workers’ extreme action is the reluctance of the car company’s regular workers to join the battle. Back in April, the Hyundai Motor regular worker union decided on a joint demand with the temporary worker chapter to have all in-house subcontractor employees hired on full time. The union also voted to take part in the struggle.

But when the union showed signs of accepting the 3,000 new hires during a wage negotiation, the temporary worker chapter opted to go it alone and pursue its own negotiations.

Some observers are faulting the irresponsibility of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the prosecutors. The latter continues to shrug its shoulders at the illegal employment of dispatch workers at Hyundai Motor, while the former took two years to launch an investigation into Korean Metal Workers’ Union allegations of illegal employment from August 2010.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor recently decided to lodge accusations against 26 union officials, including temporary worker chapter head Park Hyeon-je. To turn the screws, it has sued for one billion won (US$900,000) in damages and withheld wages.

Speaking by telephone on Oct. 18 with the Hankyoreh, Choe said he went up on the pylon “determined to put an end once and for all to an illegal employment issue that has dragged on for eight years.”

But Hyundai Motor still refuses to recognize the illegal employment. A spokesperson for the automaker said, “The Supreme Court’s ruling in February was for Choe as an individual and cannot be applied to the entire company.

"Our special in-house subcontract discussions have been delayed because of circumstances with the union," the spokesperson added. "It’s baffling to see the temporary worker union going up on the pylon to protest."

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