GGM Union: "Dismissal of Union Executive from Position Is an Unfair Labor Practice"

"Jinowi Ruling... Management Should Recognize the Union and Engage in Dialogue"

The Gwangju Global Motors Branch of the Gwangju Jeonnam Regional Headquarters of the Korean Metal Workers' Union held a press conference in front of Gwangju City Hall in Seo-gu, Gwangju on the 2nd. Photo by the Gwangju Global Motors Branch of the Gwangju Jeonnam Regional Headquarters of the Korean Metal Workers' Union

It has been ruled that Gwangju Global Motors (GGM) committed an unfair labor practice by giving the lowest possible performance evaluation score and removing an executive from his position for engaging in in-house union activities.

On July 2, the Gwangju Global Motors Branch of the Gwangju Jeonnam Regional Headquarters of the Korean Metal Workers' Union held a press conference in front of Gwangju City Hall in Seo-gu, Gwangju and stated, "The Jeonnam Regional Labor Relations Commission (Jinowi) has recognized that GGM's removal of Branch Chief Kim Jintae from his position as team leader as of January 1 was an unfair labor practice."

Previously, Jinowi recently delivered a ruling to the parties involved, stating that GGM's removal of Branch Chief Kim from his team leader position was unfair. GGM had suspended Kim for one month and removed him from his team leader position (first removal), citing insubordination for refusing an order to remove chairs, defamation, and violation of the company's mobile phone ban policy. However, Jinowi ruled that this personnel action was unjustified.

The union stated, "The management has filed an administrative lawsuit and is only focused on legal disputes rather than resolving the issue. The executives, who refuse to recognize in-house union activities, continue to invoke the position of the shareholders. Mayor Kang Gijung of Gwangju and the management should end this meaningless legal battle, recognize the union, and engage in dialogue. They should promptly conclude the collective bargaining agreement and wage negotiations, convert GGM to a two-shift system, and expand production," the union urged.

Previously, the union conducted a vote among all 225 union members on whether to approve industrial action to achieve their demands for wage and collective bargaining. With 200 in favor (88.9%), the industrial action was approved.

GGM labor and management held six rounds of negotiations, but failed to narrow their differences on issues such as wages, welfare, and the full-time status of union executives, resulting in a breakdown in talks.

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