Ssangyong Motor strike-police probe

Police arrest 11 protesters for illegal sit-in
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Police said Saturday they have
arrested 11 people on suspicion of staging illegal walkouts and using violence
during a months-long strike at Ssangyong Motor that ended earlier this week.

A dramatic compromise on layoffs agreed upon Aug. 6 by the union and the
management of Ssangyong Motor ended the union's 77-day occupation of the
carmaker's only assembly plant.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency (GPPA) arrested 10 workers who allegedly
used slingshots to fire metal pieces at riot police and brandished iron clubs to
stop commandos from getting inside the plant Wednesday.
One college student was also detained for participating in an illegal rally
outside the factory Thursday, they said.
Over 90 people, including senior union members and reporters, have been being
questioned on allegations of participating in the illicit protest, using violence
or interfering with police duties during their efforts to stop the occupation,
police said.
"We will punish all those who led the protest or used violence," Cho Hyun-oh,
commissioner of the GPPA, said at Friday's news briefing. "People who assaulted a
police officer or damaged police equipment should be made accountable."
Since February, the company has been under court-approved bankruptcy protection
that requires the firm to shed over 2,500 workers, or 36 percent of its
workforce.
But hundreds of unionized workers called for scrapping the restructuring plan,
staging sit-ins in the factory in Pyeongtaek some 70km south of Seoul. When riot
police attempted to move into the plant and evacuate it, unionists and police
clashed hand-to-hand and also used tear gas and slingshots.
In the first six months of this year, sales by Ssangyong, which has an annual
production capacity of 200,000 units, plunged 73.9 percent from the same period
last year to 13,020 units due to the production disruption that started May 22.
The strike paralyzed the plant and caused 316 billion won (US$257.3 million) in
lost production.
brk@yna.co.kr
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