Alphabiz - Kia, suing the union for illegal strikes... Labor-management ′fight of spirit′ ahead of collective bargaining agreement

[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] Kia filed a complaint with the police against union officials who participated in the general strike of the metal workers' union on the 31st of last month on charges of obstruction of business. The reason is that it caused damage to the company by pushing ahead with an illegal strike without the right to strike. The union is protesting the management's complaint, calling it "union repression."

The Kia union's strike came as a higher-level organization, the Metal Workers' Union, issued instructions to all its members to go on strike for more than four hours during the day and night of the general strike. Hyundai Motor's labor union, the largest organization under the Korean Metal Workers' Union, declared its absence from the general strike, but Kia staged a strike in accordance with the guidelines.

The union's partial strike halted production of about 2,700 new cars at Kia plants across the country. Large electric sport utility vehicles (SUV) EV9, Celtos and Sportage suffered damage. The loss of sales is estimated to be 70 billion won. Kia said in a public announcement that the suspension of production partially disrupted production of all models.

Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)