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Labor
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April 20, 2000
SEOUL, APR 19 (AP) - A militant labor umbrella group threatened to organize a nationwide strike next month to protest plans to sell Daewoo Motor Co. to a foreign buyer. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the nation's second-largest umbrella labor group, which claims a membership of 600,000, said it would start an indefinite strike on May 31. Creditors plan to sell ailing Daewoo Motor by June through international bidding, in which General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. of the United States are front-runners. Earlier this month, workers at the nation's four major carmakers - Hyundai, Daewoo, Kia and Ssangyong - staged a weeklong strike, demanding that Daewoo be nationalized or acquired by a South Korean company. They fear that sale of Daewoo to a foreign buyer would mean huge layoffs. Daewoo Motor produced 758,500 vehicles in 1999 at its 17 facilities at home and abroad. At the end of June 1999, it had dlrs 18.3 billion in assets and dlrs 13.9 billion in debt. Daewoo Motor is a unit of Daewoo Group, which collapsed under huge debts last year. It began as a joint venture with GM in 1978.
GM sold its 50 percent stake to Daewoo for dlrs 70 million in 1992. By taking over Daewoo, U.S. automakers hope to strengthen their presence in Asia, which is expected to become the fastest growing auto market in the world. |