The Detroit automaker, which announced in February that it will shut down its Gunsan plant by May, has said GM Korea will file for bankruptcy unless its union agrees on the turnaround plan by Friday. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL/INCHEON, April 19 (Korea Bizwire) – General Motor Co.’s South Korean unit and its labor union have been holding last-minute negotiations on Thursday over a turnaround plan, a day before the deadline that would see GM Korea file for bankruptcy.
The Detroit automaker, which announced in February that it will shut down its Gunsan plant by May, has said GM Korea will file for bankruptcy unless its union agrees on the turnaround plan by Friday.
Little progress has been made in Thursday’s negotiations, with the two sides failing to narrow their differences over cost-cutting measures and the fate of workers at the plant in Gunsan, according to GM Korea officials.
The management has urged the union to agree on cost-cutting measures. If they do, GM Korea could consider reviewing measures for about 680 workers at the Gunsan plant.
However, the union has called for the management to take account of workers’ job security at the Gunsan plant in the cost-cutting measures.
GM Korea has offered a voluntary retirement package for Gunsan workers, as most of them cannot be relocated. Some 1,920 out of the 2,600 Gunsan plant workers filed for the previous retirement program and quit the company with a severance package.
(Yonhap)
