Workers Set to Strike GM Korea Next Week

Unionized workers at General Motors Co.’s South Korean unit say they will strike the company’s facilities there from Monday through Wednesday.

The walkout will be the first full strike at the subsidiary since GM created it by acquiring the assets of bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co. in 2002. The union has rejected GM’s most recent labor proposal to freeze base wages and omit bonuses for the second consecutive year.

The union also is worried that GM is preparing to shutter another factory in Korea. The union notes that Plant 2 in the Bupyeong district of Incheon’s current models will go out of production in 2022.

So far, GM has not assigned new vehicle programs to the factory. Last year, it closed a factory in Gunsan.

GM acquired four plants in Korea from bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co. in 2002. But the unit has struggled since GM decided in 2014 to stop using Korea as a base to supply Chevrolet-branded small cars to Europe. The business lost 3.1 trillion won ($2.6 billion) between 2014 and 2017.

Last year the Korean government provided 850 billion won ($714 million) in financial backing to revive the business after GM threatened to shut down its local operations.