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Hyundai Motor on Thursday sued 22 leaders of its labor union, including union head Park Yoo-ki, for their violent disruption of a New Year's opening ceremony at its Ulsan factory. The company also plans to sue the union for disrupting operations, as unionists have rejected two-hour overtime work since December 28. Additionally, the automaker will seek compensation from the union for property damages including smashed glass doors.
Hyundai Motor said that 4,427 cars were not produced over the last five days, causing a loss of W72.4 billion (US$1=W931.) The company said that according to a judicial precedent, refusal of extra work usually included in standard working hours is tantamount to disruption of operations. Korea Exchange Bank also filed a W400 million compensation suit against the Hyundai union with a Seoul district court for failure to repay a debt. The bank said that it lent W400 million to a souvenir supply company in July last year with the guarantee of the union. Because the supplier has failed to repay the debt, the bank said the union will be held responsible for it.
Meanwhile, the Hyundai Motor Union is growing more belligerent and staged an all-night protest vigil Thursday. The union said that it will dispatch its largest-ever squad of protesters to company headquarters in Seoul January 10. Management agreed on a new bonus scale with the union last July, promising a 150 percent bonus if 100 percent of the production goal was met, a 100 percent bonus if 95 percent of the goal was met, and a 50 percent bonus if 90 percent of the goal was met. The agreement was a break from the company's usual practice of paying incentives even if workers didn't meet their goals. Because frequent strikes prevented the company from meeting the production target, employees were paid an average of W1.2 million less each.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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