Union ChallengesGM Korea’s Plan to End Direct Auto Service Operations (Image courtesy of Korean Metal Workers’ Union, GM Korea Branch)
SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s General Motors unit is facing legal resistance from its labor union over plans to shut down company-run repair centers, a move workers say threatens both labor agreements and consumer safety.
The GM Korea Branch of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union said Monday it has filed for a court injunction at the Incheon District Court seeking to block the closure of nine directly operated service centers nationwide. The union accused management of unilaterally overturning prior labor agreements and undermining collective bargaining rights.
At a news conference, union leaders argued that the decision amounts to an outsourcing of the automaker’s safety responsibilities. They warned that relying solely on subcontracted repair shops could weaken the company’s ability to respond to large-scale recalls, manufacturing defects and high-risk technical repairs, potentially endangering customers.
GM Korea, the local arm of U.S. auto giant General Motors, said it stopped accepting repair and after-sales service requests at the nine centers last month under an internal restructuring plan.
The facilities are scheduled to close on Feb. 15. The company has said it will shift customer service to about 380 partner service centers nationwide and reassign employees from the shuttered facilities to other positions within the company.
GM factory in Korea (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
The union, however, contends that the cooperative network lacks the technical capacity and oversight required for complex or safety-critical work, raising fears of a breakdown in the automaker’s service system.
The dispute adds to broader tensions between management and labor at GM Korea, as the company seeks to streamline operations while workers push back against measures they say erode job security and compromise public safety.
