Law "'Factory Occupation' Kia Motors Union Members Must Compensate Company 170 Million Won"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A court has ruled that union members who illegally occupied Kia Motors' Hwaseong plant in 2018 must compensate the company approximately 170 million won.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 42 (Presiding Judge Jeong Hyunseok) partially ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a damages lawsuit filed by Kia Motors against seven union members, including former Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Kia Motors irregular workers branch chief Kim Su-eok.

The court stated, "They obstructed plastic factory workers from performing bumper production work through intimidation," and "Due to the illegal acts, the entire factory production line was halted," ordering former branch chief Kim and other union members to pay a total of 172.93 million won in damages.

Earlier, irregular workers belonging to an in-house subcontractor at Kia Motors Hwaseong plant conducted a sit-in occupation at the plastic factory from August 30 to September 4, 2018, living and working there to prevent the illegal deployment of replacement workers.

Kia Motors suffered damages such as the suspension of the bumper production line due to the union members' occupation and filed a damages lawsuit on September 20 of the same year, claiming over 1 billion won from the seven leaders of the occupation.

Former branch chief Kim and others argued during the trial that it was a lawful industrial action and therefore they bore no liability for compensation. They also claimed that since subcontractor employees had already initiated a full strike, no additional damages occurred. However, the court judged that "it is difficult to consider this a legitimate industrial action."

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