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   Vol.65/No.24            June 18, 2001 
 
 
Auto workers in South Korea oppose threatened mass layoffs
 
BY HILDA CUZCO  
Thousands of auto workers in south Korea rallied June 2 against the announced sale of Daewoo Motor Company to General Motors. GM, the world’s largest automaker, has submitted a bid to purchase the south Korean automaker, which workers expect will lead to massive layoffs. The unions have called for a national strike for June 12 to oppose the threatened layoffs and protest the government’s pro-employer policies.

In front of the GM headquarters in Seoul, the capital, 3,000 unionists chanted their opposition to the projected takeover. The auto workers union at Daewoo and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held a press conference, where they announced a boycott against GM car sales in south Korea.

The same day 10,000 KCTU union members demonstrated in Seoul against the government’s austerity measures as they battled against an attack by the riot police. The protest also condemned police violence against workers at Daewoo’s Pupyong plant, west of Seoul, where dozens were seriously injured during an April 10 demonstration.

On May 30 outside Daewoo’s Inchon plant, unionists held an angry rally. "Stop the sale of Daewoo Motor," they chanted. The unionists there have held daily protests since February, when Daewoo laid off 1,750 workers in hopes of cutting costs.

Daewoo, Korea’s third-largest automaker, has sunk into debt since the 1997–98 Asian currency crisis. The company’s total debt amounts to $9.3 billion, mostly owed to the Korea Development Bank (KDB). In April Daewoo reported increased profits after laying off 7,000 of the 22,000 workers employed by the company last year.

GM presented its purchase bid to the KDB on May 30, offering between $1 billion and $2 billion for Daewoo, which has plants in 12 countries with a total of 50,000 workers. GM has demanded that the government grant it tax breaks, debt forgiveness, and "flexibility" in hiring practices.

"Down with Kim Dae-jung’s government neglecting livelihood of workers," chanted thousands of unionists at the June 1 rally in Seoul, referring to the south Korean president.

A delegation of two workers at Daewoo Motor and three KCTU members traveled to Detroit, at the invitation of the United Auto Workers union in the United States, to protest at GM’s June 5 shareholders meeting against the purchase of Daewoo Motor.

In a joint statement, several bosses’ organizations threatened the unions with punitive measures should they continue with the June 12 general strike.  
 
 
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