Pyeongtaek designated as "employment promotion zone"

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Yonhap) -- The government has designated Pyeongtaek, the host
city of strike-crippled Ssangyong Motor Co., as a special "employment promotion
zone" to cope with a potential spike in unemployment there as the automaker's
labor and management agreed last week to mass layoffs, the Labor Ministry said
Tuesday.

The designation is the first application of a special law introduced in 1994 that
allows the government to declare as "employment disaster areas" specific
administrative zones vulnerable to mass unemployment.
Union members at Ssangyong, South Korea's smallest automaker, ended their 77-day
occupation of the Pyeongtaek factory last Thursday that was launched to protest
mass layoffs.
"Considering that the general job market of Pyeongtaek has been going through
hardships, the government decided to designate the city as a disaster zone," the
ministry said in a release.
"The employment rate in the city has dramatically decreased, particularly in the
auto industry as it has been struck by the massive restructuring, meeting the
necessary criteria for the designation."
The compromise between Ssangyong's labor union and management involves letting go
about half the workers the company had initially planned to fire, sparking
concerns among employees fearful of losing their jobs, as well as their families
and subcontractors.
The ministry will channel some 50.5 billion won (US$40.8 million) out of its
budget to the designated zone through government subsidies to assist workers who
are fired or not paid on time and to support local businesses that hire employees
from the area for more than three months, government officials said.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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