16 December, 2010Ending a one month sit-in strike, subcontracted workers at Hyundai in Korea returned to work and began negotiations with the company. At the heart of the dispute are the workers' demands for full union rights and to be recognized as permanent workers, in line with an earlier Supreme Court decision.
KOREA: The first round of bargaining between the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) and Hyundai Motor took place on December 14, after the non-regular workers decided to end their one month sit-in on December 9 and enter negotiations with the company.
Workers of an in-house subcontractor at the Ulsan factory of Hyundai Motor began the sit-in on November 15 after the business closure of in-house subcontractor Dongsung Industries, and together with sympathy strike action from precarious workers in other Hyundai plants, raised three main demands in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling on July 22:
- That Hyundai Motor implement the Supreme Court ruling and transform the status of indirectly-employed subcontracted workers in the Hyundai plants to permanent, regular, directly-employed status with retroactively-applied backwages
- After regularizing the precarious workers' status, that Hyundai Motor take appropriate measures such as coming to agreement with the union on remedies for trade union members victimized while raising the illegal dispatch issue (withdraw dismissals, forced transfer, pay cuts and to allow deceased union member RYU, Ki-hyeok, to rest in peace), and
- That the Hyundai Motor Company issue a public apology to the precarious workers in Ulsan, Asan and Jeonju plants and to the South Korean people with the promise to stop using illegal precarious employment arrangements.
The workers had been dismissed due to the subcontractor's notice of closure of business on October 14, and closure of November 12. Hyundai Motor was insisting that the workers would only be rehired by the new subcontracting company if they withdrew their membership from the KMWU.
The strike is reported to cost Hyundai 315 billion won ($277 million) in lost production causing it to report the worst November sales among Korean automakers.
KMWU has brought four demands to the negotiating table formed by the strike:
- Withdraw criminal and civil charges against the strikers and resolve the hospital bills of the injured strikers (some 120 people were injured, such as sustaining broken ribs by attacks from thugs),
- Guarantee employment for the subcontracted workers who struck at the Ulsan, Jeonju and Asan plants,
- Guarantee the physical safety of the strike leaders, and
- Agree on a framework to negotiate for the regularization of workers victimized by illegal dispatch work disguised as subcontracting.
During the first full round of negotiations, the KMWU national leadership, Hyundai branch leadership and the irregular workers branch leadership, along with Hyundai Motor CEO and a representative of all Hyundai subcontractors agreed to a timetable of bargaining once a week, with the next session to take place on December 20, 2010.
The Korean government has issued arrest warrants for 16 strike leaders from the Ulsan plant and five strike leaders from the Jeonju plant in relation to the strike, and the strike leaders have established a protest tent inside the company grounds near the KMWU branch union office as one precondition to the negotiating table was Hyundai Motor's agreement to guarantee safety of person of the wanted union leaders within the company premises.
The arrest warrants stem from charges lodged by Hyundai Motor against the striking workers, and it has been reported that the company filed on Monday new charges against strike leaders of the Asan plant industrial actions.
On December 16, the Seoul High Court had its first hearing into the case on whether illegal dispatch workers must be regarded as a directly employed worker by Hyundai the day after he worked more than two consecutive years at the plant after the case was sent back to the court following the July 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the matter. The KMWU is expecting the High Court to make a final ruling on the case sometime in January.
In the meantime candlelight vigils and other forms of protest against the company are continuing as the temporary workers continue their struggle for recognition as permanent workers with trade union rights at Hyundai Motor.
The International Metalworkers' Federation is closely monitoring the situation and is supporting affiliated union actions of solidarity support, such as UAW's protest on December 6 outside the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center in Detroit.