Ssangyong Motor workers vow strike against mass layoffs

SEOUL, April 10 (Yonhap) -- The labor union of troubled Ssangyong Motor Co. said
Friday it has called thousands of its members to strike against a massive job-cut
plan, which the company says is necessary for a survival.
Ssangyong, under bankruptcy protection and 51-percent owned by China's top
automaker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC), said it would slash 2,646
jobs, or 37 percent of its total workforce, to prove its viability.
The job-cut plan, announced on Wednesday, marked the first large-scale layoffs by
a South Korean company since the global economic crisis depressed sales of
domestic automakers in late last year.
Walloped by collapsing sales and dwindling cash reserves, Ssangyong was forced to
seek bankruptcy protection in January after SAIC abandoned it without showing any
major effort to save its affiliate.
The Ssangyong union, which has some 5,100 members out of its 7,100-strong
workforce, has accused SAIC of simply abandoning the company as the market turned
sour while stealing the company's technology by exploiting its position as an
owner.
"We will stage a full-scale strike with an unimaginable scale," said an official
at the Ssangyong union.
On Monday, unionized workers at Ssangyong will vote on the strike call, the
official said.
If the union strikes, it would further complicate Ssangyong's efforts to turn
itself around, analysts say.
On May 22, a bankruptcy judge at the Seoul Central District Court will meet
creditors of Ssangyong and its debt holders to decide on the viability of the
automaker.
Ssangyong, which has an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles, posted a
net loss of 709.7 billion won (US$538.3 million) in 2008 on sales of 2.5 trillion
won, down 20 percent from a year earlier.
In the first three months of this year, Ssangyong's vehicle sales nosedived 76
percent to 6,471 units.
(END)