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Members of the South Gyeongsang chapter of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) rallied outside the Gyeongnam Provincial Government office on July 4 to protest GM Korea’s refusal to comply with a Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) order to hire 774 irregular workers currently under subcontractors as regular workers at its Changwon factory. (Choi Sang-won, South Gyeongsang correspondent)
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Automaker accepted US$725 million in government support for management normalization
GM Korea is refusing to comply with a Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) order to hire 774 irregular workers currently employed by subcontractors as regular workers at its Changwon factory following a decision finding their dispatch employment unlawful. The automaker has claimed hiring the workers “could be disruptive to management normalization.” Observers have been lambasting GM Korea for accepting 810 billion won (US$725 million) in South Korean government support for management normalization without doing anything to resolve the illegal employment issue. The local MOEL office in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, announced on July 4 that GM Korea’s Changwon factory had been “given advance notice that it would be fined 7.74 billion won (US$6.93 million) after refusing to comply with MOEL orders.” On May 28, MOEL sent an order for corrective action to the GM Korea factory in Changwon demanding that it hire all 774 irregular workers employed with eight subcontractors. “Special labor oversight has shown the GM Korea factory in Changwon to have violated the Protection, etc. of Dispatched Workers Act,” the ministry stated at the time, announcing plans to “assess fines of 10 million won [US$8,950] per person, or 7.74 billion won [US$6.91 million] in total, if [GM Korea] does not comply with the order to hire them directly by July 3, which represents the deadline for employment obligation executions [25 working days].” Refusal to comply in any way But the Changwon factory did not reply in any way to MOEL by July 3 – effectively refusing the order to directly hire the irregular workers. The Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) presented GM Korea with a compromise plan on July 2, suggesting that a phased-in hiring of the irregular workers over a period of three to four years. GM Korea has not replied to that either. MOEL is currently investigating the possibility of the illegal dispatching of irregular workers at another GM Korea factory in Bupyeong. If the Bupyeong factory, in Gyeonggi Province, is found to be involved in illegal dispatch worker employment, the number of irregular workers currently employed by subcontractors that GM Korea would be obligated to hire directly increases to over 1,800. The results of the special labor oversight are expected to come within the month. GM Korea said it was “currently making every effort to achieve management normalization and improved competitiveness.” “Complying with the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s order at this time could cause deterioration of management conditions,“ it argued. The automaker also noted, “We received a judgment in a 2013 Ministry of Employment and Labor special labor oversight finding [our hiring practices] lawful, yet the latest special labor oversight under the same situation produced a judgment finding them unlawful.” “We therefore cannot recognize the outcome of the latest special labor oversight,” it said. The deadline for fine payment is 60 days. During the first 10 days after receipt of advance notice, GM Korea has an “opinion presentation” opportunity, during which time it can raise objections. Some observers predicted the automaker was likely to lodge objections before buying time with a trial. To protest GM Korea’s stance, the South Gyeongsang chapter of KMWU plans to hold a rally at the entrance of the Changwon factory at 3:30 pm on July 5 to call for “execution of the order for corrective action on illegal dispatch employment.” Irregular workers at the Changwon factory also plan to hold one-person demonstrations against GM Korea near nine Chevrolet dealerships in the Changwon area. Collusion between labor oversight and GM Korea under Park Geun-hye administration “During the Park Geun-hye administration in Dec. 2013, the Ministry of Employment Labor produced a ruling finding [dispatch worker hiring practices] legal in a special labor oversight that was basically in collusion with GM Korea,” said Jin Hwan, office manager for KMWU’s GM Korea irregular worker chapter. “There needs to be a reinvestigation of the process and outcome of that special labor oversight,” Jin stressed. Hong Ji-wook, who heads KMWU’s South Gyeongsang chapter, said, “We want [GM Korea’s] management normalization more than anyone. But this attitude of defying the law and making up for it with penalties is not even worthy of denunciation.” “We cannot simply sit around and do nothing about these ‘eat and run’ tactics of collecting support in taxpayer money while driving workers to the brink.” By Choi Sang-won, South Gyeongsang correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
