Text Fwd: Ssangyong's fired workers end plant occupation

* Image source:
1. Voice of People
2. Voice of People
3. Yonhap News: same as below

Yonhap News
Ssangyong's fired workers end plant occupation
2009/08/06 15:23 KST


PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, Aug. 6 (Yonhap) -- Hundreds of fired workers Thursday voluntarily ended their 77-day seizure of a painting shop of Ssangyong Motor Co. after union leaders and management agreed on a broad framework for a layoff plan, police said.

About 400 laid-off workers started moving out the painting facility at around 2:50 p.m. while police verified identifications. "Work is in progress to check all identifications," a police official said.

The protesters will be sent to nearby police stations for questioning, according to the official.

Thursday's agreement came after several days of raids by police commandos to disperse the fired workers who have been occupying the facility since late May in protest against the layoffs, authorized by a court in February when Ssangyong entered bankruptcy protection.

Earlier in the day, the Ssangyong union proposed a resumption of talks with a new offer and the management accepted it, both sides said, describing the talks as "final."

Park Young-tae, one of two court-appointed managers for Ssangyong, and Han Sang-kyun, the union leader, began the talks inside the plant at 11:00 a.m. in this rural town of Pyeongtaek, about 70km south of Seoul.

The union proposed to accept a plan to save 48 percent of some 1,000 laid-off workers by giving them unpaid long-term leaves of absence, according to a source close to the talks. Ssangyong had previously offered to save 40 percent of the laid-off workers.

"I understand that both sides reached a deal to save 48 percent of the fired workers," the source said.

Some 1,000 fired workers occupied the painting facility on May 22, with more than half of them having voluntarily given up the occupation after police stepped up their siege of the facility.

On Wednesday, police commandos seized all facilities in the plant with the exception of the paint shop as it is filled with flammable materials. Scores of protesters and police were injured in violent clashes earlier in the week.

Ssangyong, the smallest carmaker in South Korea, received bankruptcy protection in exchange for implementing a turnaround plan calling for 36 percent of its workforce, or 2,646 employees, to be cut.

Since then, some 1,670 workers have left the company through voluntary retirement plans, while the remaining 976 workers have been on strike.

The standoff has darkened prospects for the carmaker's survival, costing nearly 316 billion won (US$258.3 million) in lost production.

Also on Wednesday, several creditors of Ssangyong filed a petition with a bankruptcy court in Seoul demanding the court swiftly liquidate the strike-hit carmaker to recoup their debts.

The creditors represented some 600 suppliers of Ssangyong, which owes 276 billion won to them.

The petition is not legally binding, however, and a decision by the court is expected to come after Sept. 15, when Ssangyong is required to submit its restructuring plan.

China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. retains 51 percent ownership over Ssangyong, though the parent lost management control after the carmaker entered bankruptcy protection.


* Related English article

Hankyoreh
NHRCK asks police to stop crackdown at Ssangyong Motors plant:
The organization is monitoring the human rights situation and concludes several auto workers’ human rights are being violated
Posted on : Aug.6,2009 12:04 KST Modified on : Aug.6,2009 12:13 KST

http://www.workers.org/2009/world/korea_0813/
Solidarity with Korean workers
Published Aug 5, 2009 4:03 PM

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