No End in Sight
The conflict between the labor and management of Renault Samsung Motors is getting more serious day by day.
The automaker’s labor union announced on Jan. 21 that it will immediately suspend its strike that has been staged since Dec. 20 last year. The announcement was seen as a change in the union’s strategy as its prolonged strike did not work as expected due to the refusal of many members to participate. The strike participation rate has fallen to the mid-20 percent range.
The labor union planned all members’ return to work from that morning, but they could not access the production lines due to the management’s partial shutdown of the plant.
"If unionists who entered the factory renew their strike in a guerrilla style, it would only fuel confusion on the production lines and cause more damage to the company," the management said, explaining why it decided to leave the plant partially shut down.
Earlier this year, the labor union resumed talks with the management to conclude wage negotiations. Yet it continued a guerrilla-style strike where unionists took turn in boycotting work for an hour or two.