Ssangyong Motor Union Leading Business Normalization... "We Will Take the Lead in 'Win-Win Cooperation'"

Jung Il-kwon, Chairman of the Ssangyong Motor Labor Union (photo far left), is explaining the current situation to the executives of the dealership council at the labor union office of the Pyeongtaek plant on the 29th of last month.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Ssangyong Motor Labor Union announced on the 12th that it has taken steps to expedite business normalization and strengthen win-win cooperation through various communication channels with stakeholders such as the dealership council and the labor-management-civil-government consultative body.

Jeong Il-gwon, chairman of the Ssangyong Motor labor union, stated that on the 29th of last month, he met with the executives of the dealership council, composed of dealership representatives, at the Pyeongtaek plant to share a sense of crisis and consensus and discuss various cooperation measures.

At the meeting, Chairman Jeong said, “We are well aware of the difficulties in the sales field,” and urged, “Labor and management are working together to overcome the crisis, so please hang in there a little longer.” He also expressed his determination, saying, “We will strive to secure funding through continuous and active communication with major shareholders and the government for Ssangyong Motor’s business normalization, sustainable operation, and employment stabilization.”

The Ssangyong Motor labor union executives plan to visit nine sales regional headquarters nationwide sequentially throughout May, starting with this meeting with the dealership council, meeting with officials from the Central Region Sales Headquarters on the 6th, and visiting the Gwanggyo dealership, to directly listen to the difficulties faced in the sales frontlines and reflect the voices from the sales field in the production site to create products that meet customer needs.

Additionally, on the 8th, the Ssangyong Motor labor union formed a special labor-management-civil-government consultative body with Ssangyong Motor management, the Economic, Social and Labor Council, and Pyeongtaek City to promote business normalization and revitalize the local economy of Pyeongtaek. They agreed to derive practical cooperation measures through continuous working-level meetings and discussions.

Meanwhile, the Ssangyong Motor labor union implemented strong self-help measures last year, including suspending 20 welfare items such as tuition support and medical expenses in September, and in December returning 200% bonuses and production incentives, reducing annual leave payment rates (from 150% to 100%), and returning improved O/T allowances. Furthermore, in April, they took the lead in sharing pain by being the first in the industry to freeze wages for 2020 and conclude collective bargaining.

Along with this, the Ssangyong Motor labor union has steadily worked to secure funds for product development, successfully leading Mahindra’s paid-in capital increase and support from domestic and international financial institutions since the first half of last year. Subsequently, they formed a management development committee with the management to discuss future growth plans, actively securing resources for future technologies and new product development and overcoming the crisis together.

Also, workers who had been on leave and receiving leave wages since January of this year began a four-week training on the 4th to return to the production site, and will start working again with their former colleagues from the 1st of next month.

Chairman Jeong said, “The Korean automobile industry is dominated by a monopoly structure, making survival difficult for small-scale car companies. However, through proactive self-help efforts and active communication with various stakeholders, we will not only lay the foundation for the company’s sustainable growth but also provide customers with diverse and reasonable products and overcome the crisis together.”

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