Labor-Management Cooperation in Gumi

“We will make an all-out effort to establish cooperative management-labor relations and to be beloved by Gumi citizens.”

Recently, as many as thirty placards invoking harmony between management and labor were hung in downtown Gumi, including Gumi station and expressways in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.

Kolon Industries, one of the leading companies based in Gumi, hung the placards. Until last month, union members of Kolon have been on strike. However, they are now in a great transition to bilateral win-win relations between management and labor, throwing away their picket signs and picking up their all-out efforts for a progressive company.

The business and labor bipartite of the Kolon’s Gumi factory has been in hot water with each side since 2004. In August, 2004, when the union party finally called a strike for 64 days against the restructuring process, the management party declared a lockout.

Labor filed a suit against the company’s layoff of 78 production workers in February 2005. Furthermore, Choi, the former chairman of the Kolon Labor Union, went to the house of Chairman Lee Woong-ryeul of the Kolon Group in Seongbuk-dong and was arrested for unauthorized access. Meanwhile, the central board of labor relations found in April that the layoff was legal concerning the business downturn of Kolon Industries.

The one who broke the deadlock was labor themselves. 730 members (90% turnout) out of 812 union members (900 employees in total) decided on a general meeting in a bid to establish a new administration body of the union July 12. Kim Hong-ryeol (46), the incumbent chairman of the union, ran for the election, provoking a “win-win relationship” and won the race with a whopping 91 percent of support.

“Running out of the time, I was afraid that we were about to pass up the opportunity for harmony and progress. It is like adopting the bad habit of eating junk food, although you know that it is wrong, but kick it abruptly at the critical moment.” stated Kim on August 24.

The brand-new executives of the union reduced its full-time staff who only dealt with union related works from nine to five members and restructured the executive staffs as well from 31 to 12 because they understood that even an employee was essential to the workplace to revive the company.

In addition, the union wrote letters in the name of its chairman to the 90 business connections of Kolon with a regretful message to present their excuse and to make words for future cooperation. The change can be seen on the 13 commuting buses of the company with a message, “Our great citizens, we will reward your favor with a takeoff of Kolon.”

The workers also agreed August 24 to propel various community activities together by establishing “volunteers in harmony” with executives of each side.

Cho Hee-jung (54), the plant foreman and vice-president of Kolon, said, “Given the deteriorating world market situation, the two parties need to be cooperative with each other in order to avoid the collapse of the whole industry. The strike underscores the importance of cooperation that we will do our utmost to go forward along with the labor union.”

Although the Kolon’s Gumi factory has been in operation since 1972 and records 1.2 trillion won of yearly sales, in 2003 and 2004 when the management-labor conflict was intense it showed a loss of 80 billion won and 150 billion won, respectively.

boriam@donga.com