Ssangyong Motor warns striking workers to disperse by Monday

By Kim Deok-hyun
SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- The troubled Ssangyong Motor Co. warned striking
workers occupying the company's only plant on Wednesday to disperse by early next
week, threatening legal action.
Thousands of unionized workers at Ssangyong have occupied the carmaker's sole
plant in the city of Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul, since May 12, staging a
sit-in to protest against a massive job-cut plan. In response, Ssangyong has
closed the Pyeongtaek factory.
Ssangyong, which has been under court receivership since February, plans to cut
36 percent of its workforce, or 2,646 workers, as part of its survival bid.
"Unless striking workers disperse voluntarily by Monday, we will take all
possible legal actions," said Lee Yoo-il, one of the two court-appointed managers
supervising the automaker's bankruptcy process.
"The workforce restructuring is essential to Ssangyong's survival," Lee said.
Last month, the Seoul Central District Court said saving Ssangyong is more
valuable than liquidating it, but warned it could still force the ailing carmaker
to collapse if it fails to make the job cuts as promised.
In the first three months of this year, Ssangyong posted its sixth straight
quarterly net loss as consumers shunned vehicles from the potentially bankrupt
carmaker.
Ssangyong posted a net loss of 265 billion won (US$213.8 million) in the first
quarter, compared with a loss of 34 billion won for the same period last year.
First-quarter sales plunged 66 percent from a year ago to 234 billion won.
(END)