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Ssangyong Motor plays hardball on protest
Former Ssangyong Motor workers crawl on a street in Guro, Seoul, Wednesday, in protest against a recent Supreme Court decision to back the firm’s massive layoff in 2009. They demand the company rehire them. / Yonhap
By Kim Se-jeong
By Kim Se-jeong
Ssangyong Motor has filed a court injunction to stop an ongoing protest by two former workers atop a factory chimney in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
In a complaint submitted to a district court in Suwon, the firm asked the court to allow it to charge 1 million won ($909) a day each to the two workers for “disrupting the plant’s operations,” if they do not end their protest.
The two ― Kim Jeong-wook and Lee Chang-geun ― have been on top of the 70-meter-high chimney since Dec. 13, demanding reinstatement. They are among more than 2,000 workers who were laid off in 2009.
Last month, Ssangyong filed a separate complaint with the prosecution to investigate Kim and Lee, saying they entered the plant illegally and are obstructing its business.
“They damaged a wire fence to enter the plant and are occupying company property. They broke laws,” a Ssangyong spokesman said. “They are damaging the company’s reputation.”
The protest was prompted by a Supreme Court ruling in November that the massive layoff in 2009 was legal. The ruling dashed the hopes of 153 former workers who are still seeking to return to the company.
Umbrella unions have lashed out at the court and have been staging protests to demand their reinstatement.
Ssangyong said that it is open for dialogue with the labor union on this matter. “We hope the company representatives and the union will come together for dialogue soon. We believe this would be the fastest track to resolve the issue,” a Ssangyong official said.
The labor union welcomed the dialogue, but wanted the company to hire the fired workers back.
“The protest on top of the chimney shows they are desperate. We want the company to hear us and reach out to us with an open mind to solve the problem,” said a former worker on condition of anonymity.