GM Korea's labor union has submitted an application to the National Labor Relations Commission to mediate labor disputes to secure the right to strike.
According to industry sources on June 13, GM Korea's labor union held an expanded executive meeting at the Korea GM Welfare Center in Bupyeong, Incheon, on June 12 and unanimously resolved the issue of labor disputes.
The union said the management is delaying the negotiations, demanding a change in the venue of the negotiations. The union plans to hold a vote on the dispute's action on June 19-20.
The commission will make a decision on a "stop to adjustment" or "administrative guidance" if the adjustment is not made after attempting to make adjustments between labor and management.
If the decision to suspend the mediation is made and more than 50 percent of the union members agree to the dispute, the union will secure the right to strike legally.
Initially, the management and labor union of GM Korea tried to enter full-fledged wage negotiations, starting with a business meeting on May 30, but the meeting was canceled six times due to conflicts in the process of deciding where to negotiate.
Last year, the management asked the union to move to a negotiating table with multiple outlets, saying, "There was a case in which company executives and employees who participated in consultations between labor and management were detained by union members."
However, the union believes the management is deliberately delaying the negotiations by continuing to demand a replacement of negotiating table.
"The GM headquarters also maintains that safety is the top priority," a GM Korea official said. "We chose an open space as we value the safety for not only the union but also the company's executives who are in negotiations."
