Troubled Ssangyong Motor Co.'s management and labor union have failed in negotiations over layoff at their auto plant in Pyongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, the management said Sunday.
A company spokesman said that the negotiations collapsed at 4:30 a.m. Sunday, 30 minutes after the resumption of their 7th attempt as they failed to narrow their differences on how many workers would be laid off.
The employer side proposed to guarantee jobs for 390, 40 percent of the laid-off workers _ 290 for leave without pay and transfer of 100 into sales jobs, which the labor union flatly denied, claiming that all the laid-off workers be restored.
Ssangyong, the smallest carmaker in South Korea, received bankruptcy protection in exchange for implementing a turnaround plan calling for 36 percent of its workforce, or 2,646 employees, to be cut.
Since then, some 1,670 workers have left the company through voluntary retirement plans, while the remaining 976 workers have been on strike. Talks began last week to try to end the standoff.
Ssangyong has until Sept. 15 to submit its final turnaround program to its creditors and a bankruptcy judge.