Riot Police Enter Ssangyong Plant
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Thousands of riot police moved into the Ssangyong Motor factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Monday, under a court order to disperse laid-off unionized workers who have occupied the factory for about two months.
But they refrained from forcibly removing the protestors from a building in the plant to avoid possible deadly clashes.
Officers succeeded in gaining control of most of the factory, except for a painting building in which about 700 of the fired workers had gathered in a last-ditch protest against the company's layoff plan. The building reportedly contains more than 33,000 liters of inflammable material including paint thinner.
National Police Agency Commissioner Kang Hee-rak was cautious about raiding the building.
"Police have a duty to put a court order into practice," Kang told reporters. "But I'm not considering pushing police into the building at the moment because it's packed with dangerous material. We succeeded in taking control of the main administrative building and the research building in line with an agreement with Ssangyong management."
The operation began around 11 a.m. as five court officials and Ssangyong creditors arrived at the scene with a court-issued letter ordering the protesters to leave the plant.
Ssangyong asked the court to order police to remove the striking workers in order to normalize operations. The request was approved early this month.
The company cut water and electricity supplies at 11:20 a.m. despite the risk of damaging machinery. Food deliveries have been suspended since last Friday.
"This is to get them out as soon as possible," a Ssangyong executive said.
Previously, executives had been unable to meet the striking workers due to safety precautions, as some protesters shot steel nuts from rubber guns at the "invaders."
The government and Ssangyong hope to disperse the protesters as soon as possible as the strike has already cost the automaker 230 billion won ($183.2 million) in lost production
Should the deadlock continue, Knowledge Economy Minister Lee Youn-ho said Ssangyong will have no choice but to file for bankruptcy.
"Ssangyong executives and associates believe that if assembly lines fail to resume operating this month, the automaker's bankruptcy will be inevitable," Lee said. "The government will map out a plan to provide support to Ssangyong after a court finally decides whether or not to keep it alive."
The minister said the government has no plan to play an active role in reconciling the two parties, saying "government intervention in labor issues has never been successful."
Ssangyong has laid off 36 percent of its work force, or 2,646 employees in a bid to survive the global economic turmoil.