CJ CheilJedang grapples with first workers' strike

CJ CheilJedang's corporate image / Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang

By Kim Jae-heun

CJ CheilJedang is grappling with a workers' strike at one of its plants, which produces a range of food products under its flagship Bibigo brand, according to company officials Friday. The walkout is the first of its kind in the firm's 70-year history.

Union members at CJ CheilJedang's Blossom Campus in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, have been on strike since Thursday after labor and management failed earlier to reach an agreement on abolishing a blanket wage system and paying bonuses of 16.6 percent of each worker's annual salary every year. The blanket wage system pays workers monthly salaries that include extended, night and holiday work allowances in a lump sum. The union said its protest will continue through next Monday.

The food giant's Blossom Campus produces various Bibigo brand food products such as rice porridge, kimchi and Hetbahn ― a widely popular microwave rice brand. The union is yet to call for a full strike of all company workers. Currently workers at different departments are taking turns protesting and CJ CheilJedang's production facilities there are still in full operation.

CJ CheilJedang's kimchi products / Courtesy of CJ CheilJedang

However, the union promised to raise the level of protest if the negotiations with the company are prolonged. If it decides to go on a full strike, it will be inevitable for CJ CheilJedang to experience delays in production of Bibigo food items.

From June to September, the union went through 11 rounds of negotiation with management to improve workers' welfare.

However, as the two sides have failed to find common ground, the union convened an extraordinary general meeting with its workers calling for a full strike. Over 96 percent of union members agreed to begin protesting in a vote held from Oct. 26 to 29.

“We had a talk with the company to settle the issue on Thursday, but it only urged us to make changes to our request and withdraw our partial strike. We will raise the level of our protest step by step,” a union official said.

A CJ CheilJedang official said, “We don't think there will be a delay in production affected by the strike. However, we will continue to engage in negotiation with the union as we have been doing so far.”

CJ CheilJedang employees have been working without a union since the company's establishment in 1953 until March when the first was established.