SsangYong Motor President visits memorial of dismissed worker who passed away

SsangYong Motor President Choi Jong-shik pays his respects to the over 30 dismissed workers who have passed away at a memorial in Seoul on Sept. 13. (Kim Seong-gwang, staff photographer)

Visit could be indication of potential solution to conflict between management and workers

SsangYong Motor President Choi Jong-sik visited a memorial in front of Daehan Gate of the Deoksu Palace in Seoul’s Jung (Central) district on Sept. 13 to pay respects to Kim Ju-joong, a dismissed employee of the company who passed away in June.

It was the first visit to a memorial by a representative of the company since the so-called “SsangYong situation” erupted. With the company’s labor and management resuming talks on the reinstatement of dismissed workers soon after Choi’s condolence call, observers are now watching for a potential solution to the conflict.

Choi was accompanied on his visit by representatives of the SsangYong company union, the Korean Metal Workers’ Union SsangYong chapter, SsangYong Motor, and the South Korean President’s Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC), who have been working together toward a solution on the reinstatement issue.

Kim Ju-joong was the 30th person to pass away in the wake of the SsangYong layoffs in 2009. Unable to win reinstatement or find new work after his dismissal, Kim went into credit default and struggled to make ends meet. Last June, he was found dead on a hill in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

“As this was a company employee who passed away, President Choi visited the memorial himself to express his sadness and pay his respects to the deceased,” a SsangYong official said.

Choi speaks with representatives of the SsangYong company union, the Korean Metal Workers’ Union SsangYong chapter, SsangYong Motor, and the South Korean President’s Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC) at the memorial for deceased SsangYong workers in Seoul on Sept. 13. (Kim Seong-gwang, staff photographer)

1,800 employees fired after restructuring efforts in 2009

SsangYong let go of some 1,800 employees through restructuring after entering court receivership in 2009. In 2013, the company reinstated all 454 employees who had opted for unpaid leave. Other workers who had resigned voluntarily or been dismissed were subsequently reinstated after a 2015 tripartite agreement by the company union, KMWU chapter, and management – 40 of them in 2016, 62 in 2017, and 26 this year.

“We’ve been making various efforts to reinstate the dismissed workers, but the matter has persisted into the long term as delays in business improvements have left us with a lack of hiring capabilities,” the company explained.

The union has continued staging rallies and demonstrations, insisting that “all of the dismissed workers should be reinstated according to the agreement.”

“While management conditions are too difficult for us to accept the demand to reinstatement all of the workers, the labor-management-government body will put their heads together again to find a solution to the problem, with the ESLC taking part as an institution for social dialogue,” a company official said.

Choi shakes hands with Kim Deuk-jung, head of the SsangYong Chapter of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, at the memorial for deceased former workers in Seoul on Sept. 13. (Kim Seong-gwang, staff photographer)

By Hong Dae-seon, staff reporter

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