Guerrilla Strike vs. Lockout... Renault Samsung Labor and Management Head Toward 'Strongest vs. Strongest' Confrontation

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] The labor-management negotiations at Renault Samsung are escalating rapidly day by day. As the labor union lowered the factory operation rate through guerrilla-style strikes, the management responded by pulling out the card of a workplace shutdown and announced the suspension of night operations at the factory.

As the labor-management negotiations continued in a 'strong against strong' standoff without finding common ground, Jose Vicente de los Mozos, Vice Chairman in charge of Manufacturing and Supply at the Renault Group and the second-in-command of the Renault Group, expressed his intention to visit Korea again at the end of this month. It will be the first time in 11 months since Vice Chairman Mozos last visited the Busan plant in February of last year.

Vice Chairman Mozos plans to visit Renault Samsung’s Busan headquarters and factory to hold talks with the labor and management of Renault Samsung, and also intends to meet with Busan city officials. Attention is focused on whether Mozos’ visit can bring a new phase to the escalating labor-management relations at Renault Samsung.

Renault Samsung Busan Plant Halted Due to Strike

According to the automotive industry, Renault Samsung management implemented a partial workplace shutdown by suspending night shift work and closing the factory starting from the 10th. Until labor negotiations are settled, the factory will operate on a single daytime shift system with 8-hour operations.

The reason Renault Samsung took such a strong measure is that due to the union’s 'guerrilla strikes,' even running full shifts during day and night resulted in production levels falling to less than one-fifth of the previous output. Since the strike participation rate dropped below 30% starting in December, the Renault Samsung union has been enforcing guerrilla-style designated strikes by announcing strikes suddenly and dividing them by team and time.

This strike method exploits the characteristic of the automobile production process, where even if only a small number of workers in certain processes stop working, the entire production is disrupted. Because of this, the Busan plant of Renault Samsung is suffering serious damage to production despite more than 70% of union members attending work normally.

A Renault Samsung official explained, "Disruptions are occurring in the export shipment of Nissan Rogue and delivery of vehicles to domestic customers, and the union refuses to stop striking even as the launch of a new car approaches, threatening the very existence of the company," adding, "This is an extraordinary measure to save Renault Samsung employees, customers, and partners."

On the other hand, the Renault Samsung union dismissed the management’s workplace shutdown as illegal, stating that the guerrilla-style designated strikes have no procedural flaws during the strike process. A union official said, "The union is exercising the constitutionally guaranteed right to collective action through legal procedures recognized by management," and added, "We will hold them accountable to the end for the illegal workplace shutdown."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.