Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
Renault Samsung-labor dispute deepening
Renault Samsung's plant in Busan / Yonhap
By Kwak Yeon-soo
By Kwak Yeon-soo
The dispute between Renault Samsung Motors and its union is deepening after the union cut off talks abruptly, threatening to go on strike on Monday.
The union announced Saturday it will be staging a partial strike involving 34 union leaders and representatives, calling on the company to come up with better wage and working terms.
“Only union executives will go on strike on Monday. The rest of its members will be at worksites,” a union spokesperson said.
“For now, we plan to hold a one-day strike. But we'll carefully monitor how the company responds to our request. We are scheduled to have a meeting sometime this week, but the exact date is undecided.”
The union's threat is seen as an attempt to get the upper hand in the upcoming negotiations with management.
The union and management agreed to meet sometime this week to renegotiate wages and other working conditions following the union's rejection of a tentative agreement.
Although the partial strike is not expected to lead to an immediate automotive plant shutdown, it may lead further to a production disruption or a full strike if the upcoming negotiations fall by the wayside.
The abrupt shift came after the company halted operations temporarily of its Busan plant on May 24 due to the plant's declining utilization rate. The company said it plans to suspend the plant's operation again on May 31.
“The temporary suspension was to control the plant's utilization rate as the Nissan Rogue production volume was slashed to 60,000 from last year's 100,000,” a Renault Samsung official said.
The continuing labor dispute has led Renault and its ally Nissan to realign production and their contract to manufacture the Nissan Rogue mid-size SUV to expire in September.
Although the company insisted the temporary suspension has nothing to do with the union rejecting the tentative agreement, the union workers expressed their discontent.
On Tuesday, union workers turned down the tentative agreement. Of 2,142 union members present for the vote, 51.8 percent cast ballots against a tentative agreement reached last week ― 52.2 percent of 1,662 production workers voted in favor, but 65.6 percent of 442 sales workers voted against it.
After the vote, the union sent a letter to the company, seeking a meeting to renegotiate the wage and working terms.
The company and the union began negotiations in June last year to sign a wage and collective agreement deal. Following 60 partial strikes, the Korean unit of French automaker Renault halted production at the Busan plant several times resulting in losses.
Affected by strikes, Renault Samsung's sales fell 40 percent to 52,930 vehicles in the January-April period from 87,996 in the same period of last year.