Potential presidential hopeful taking lead in Chevrolet boycott

By Kim Tae-gyu

A potential presidential contender threatened to boycott automobiles of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology should the Incheon-based carmaker fail to deal with the lingering disputes involving fired irregular workers.

Rhyu Si-min of the minority People’s Participation Party made the remark last Friday when he visited workers, who have staged demonstrations for around a month at the head office of GM Daewoo.

GM Daewoo is an affiliate of General Motors in Korea. It is set to change its name to GM Korea Company over the first quarter of this year while embracing the Chevrolet logo for its new models.

``If GM continues to turn its back on the ardent desires of irregular workers and demands of citizens, I may send out messages geared toward boycotting GM’s Chevrolet,’’ the 51-year-old said.

What Rhyu notes is that he may take advantage of Twitter to organize a campaign against GM Daewoo in case the company cannot come up with solutions to the protestors’ requests.

``I have about 170,000 followers on Twitter. A substantial number of them will be poised to buy new vehicles,’’ said Rhyu who once served as the Minister of Health and Welfare over the former Roh Moo-hyun administration. ``Conversely, I will snap up Chevrolets if GM hire dismissed irregular workers.’’

GM Daewoo is struggling with the rally because its subcontractors, not the company, discharged the workers.

``We are not supposed to butt in on the case because we did not employ the protestors. Our subcontractors did. Hence, the demonstrators need to talk with subcontractors,’’ a GM Daewoo spokesman said.

``We put forth various efforts to put an end to the month-long rallies. We asked out subcontractors to settle the clashes and they met with union heads to little avail.’’

Rhyu appears to think that GM Daewoo can flex their muscles in a more proactive manner.

``The company will have spent a lot changing its brand and corporate title to improve its image and jack up sales. If it accepts the fired workers, it would be able to win the hearts and minds of people with far less costs,’’ he said.

Rhyu is one of the strongest opposition contenders to become the next president of the country as the outspoken politician enjoys popularity among liberal and young voters.

The erstwhile economic columnist started his political career in 2003 by winning a seat at the National Assembly and had been a close aide of late former President Roh, who committed a suicide in 2008 amid investigations into a bribe scandal.

Rhyu ran for the governor of Gyeonggi Province midway through last year but lost by a slim margin to Kim Moo-soo, standard bearer of the ruling Grand National Party, who won reelection.

He is widely expected to take charge of the People’s Participation Party this March to prepare for the presidential election, which will take place late 2012.