GGM Union: "Early Loan Repayment Is a Scam"... Four-Hour Partial Strike

On the afternoon of the 1st, members of the Metalworkers' Union Gwangju Jeonnam Branch held a rally in front of Gwangju City Hall to condemn the union intimidation and loan fraud scandal at Gwangju Global Motors (GGM), as well as the assault on the branch president, demanding the dismissal of the CEO and the head of the coexistence office. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Workers at Gwangju Global Motors (GGM) recently staged a partial strike, claiming that the company's controversy over early loan repayment was a scam.

On September 1, the Gwangju Jeonnam Branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union held a rally in front of Gwangju City Hall, attended by about 100 union members. Beginning at 12:20 p.m., they launched a four-hour partial strike, condemning the company and asserting that the claim of early loan repayment due to a "union strike" was a fabrication.

In a statement, the union declared, "The company has violated the union's legitimate industrial actions and activities through violence," adding, "Although an incident of violence by the company occurred during the rally, they brazenly filed charges against union members."

The union further emphasized, "Union hatred, intimidation, and oppression continue, yet the Gwangju city government has not taken any action. Since 'labor-management coexistence' is impossible in a factory ruled by violence, the CEO must be dismissed."

The controversy over early loan repayment at GGM has escalated since August 22, when a physical altercation broke out between union members protesting the company and company employees trying to stop them.

The company claimed that the demand for early loan repayment from creditor banks was due to the "union strike," but the creditor banks refuted this assertion as "groundless," marking the beginning of the labor-management conflict.

The company has filed a police complaint against 25 union members for obstruction of business and property damage, while the union is also planning to file a counter-complaint against the company soon.