ID :
73709
Tue, 08/04/2009 - 13:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/73709
The shortlink copeid
Police siege Ssangyong facility occupied by fired workers
(ATTN: UPDATES with new development)
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- Police commandos had begun storming a
paint shop at the Ssangyong Motor Co. plant Tuesday that has been occupied by
hundreds of fired workers.
The commandos raided the building to break up the sit-in as about 4,000 riot
police surrounded the building. Firetrucks and police commanders also arrived
inside the plant.
"Today, we will enter the painting shop as far as we can. So it can be said that
operations have essentially begun," said a police official.
Earlier in the day, police used forklifts to remove barricades and other barriers
blocking off the facility where some 550 laid-off workers have remained holed up
since May 22, demanding their jobs back.
Police sprayed tear gas from helicopters as the protesters fought back by
shooting nuts and bolts from large slingshots and rolling out burning tires.
Tensions at the plant spiked as last-ditch talks to resolve the standoff
collapsed on Sunday after Ssangyong and the unionists failed to make a
breakthrough over how many fired workers would be given their jobs back.
The company has cut off water and electricity to the paint shop, which is packed
with flammable materials. Since the talks collapsed, 114 fired workers have
voluntarily left the site, according to police.
Ssangyong, which has been under bankruptcy protection since February, has until
Sept. 15 to submit its final turnaround program to its creditors and a bankruptcy
judge.
The standoff has darkened the prospects for the carmaker's survival, costing
nearly 316 billion won (US$259.4 million) in lost production. A group of
Ssangyong suppliers have said they will ask the bankruptcy judge to liquidate the
troubled carmaker on Wednesday.
In the first six months of this year, Ssangyong's sales plunged 73.9 percent from
the same period last year to 13,020 units.
Ssangyong is still 51-percent owned by China's Shanghai Automotive Industry
Corp., but the parent lost management control after Ssangyong entered bankruptcy
protection.
(END)
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- Police commandos had begun storming a
paint shop at the Ssangyong Motor Co. plant Tuesday that has been occupied by
hundreds of fired workers.
The commandos raided the building to break up the sit-in as about 4,000 riot
police surrounded the building. Firetrucks and police commanders also arrived
inside the plant.
"Today, we will enter the painting shop as far as we can. So it can be said that
operations have essentially begun," said a police official.
Earlier in the day, police used forklifts to remove barricades and other barriers
blocking off the facility where some 550 laid-off workers have remained holed up
since May 22, demanding their jobs back.
Police sprayed tear gas from helicopters as the protesters fought back by
shooting nuts and bolts from large slingshots and rolling out burning tires.
Tensions at the plant spiked as last-ditch talks to resolve the standoff
collapsed on Sunday after Ssangyong and the unionists failed to make a
breakthrough over how many fired workers would be given their jobs back.
The company has cut off water and electricity to the paint shop, which is packed
with flammable materials. Since the talks collapsed, 114 fired workers have
voluntarily left the site, according to police.
Ssangyong, which has been under bankruptcy protection since February, has until
Sept. 15 to submit its final turnaround program to its creditors and a bankruptcy
judge.
The standoff has darkened the prospects for the carmaker's survival, costing
nearly 316 billion won (US$259.4 million) in lost production. A group of
Ssangyong suppliers have said they will ask the bankruptcy judge to liquidate the
troubled carmaker on Wednesday.
In the first six months of this year, Ssangyong's sales plunged 73.9 percent from
the same period last year to 13,020 units.
Ssangyong is still 51-percent owned by China's Shanghai Automotive Industry
Corp., but the parent lost management control after Ssangyong entered bankruptcy
protection.
(END)
