'Negotiations Fail 8 Times'... GGM to Begin Partial Strike from Noon Today

Only Union Members in Quality Control Department to Strike for Four Hours

The Gwangju Global Motors Branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (GGM Union) launched its first full-scale strike on the afternoon of the 10th, five years after the establishment of the GGM corporation, and held a strike declaration press conference in front of Gwangju City Hall. Photo by Min Chanki

The Gwangju Global Motors branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (GGM Union), which failed to narrow differences with management after eight rounds of wage and collective bargaining negotiations, will launch a partial strike.

According to the GGM Union and others on the 14th, union members and executive officers belonging to the quality control department will begin a four-hour partial strike starting at 12:20 p.m. today.

The union has decided to refuse substitute work for striking members and will only perform their own duties.

The union plans to closely monitor the situation and stage partial strikes as needed, rather than striking every day for the time being.

The management explained that non-union employees, such as general office staff, will be deployed to fill the vacancies of union members, so there will be no interruption to operations.

Previously, on December 31 last year, the union held a vote among all 225 members on the wage and collective bargaining demands, with 200 members (88.9%) voting in favor, thereby approving industrial action.

GGM labor and management held eight rounds of negotiations, but failed to reach an agreement on issues such as wage increases, improvement of working conditions, and the introduction of a seniority-based pay system, resulting in a breakdown of talks.

On the 13th of last month, labor and management applied for dispute mediation to the Jeonnam Regional Labor Relations Commission and held two related meetings, but failed to find common ground and received a decision to halt mediation.

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