S Korea's Ssangyong Motor union start general strike

• Source: xinhua
• [18:17 May 21 2009]
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Unionized workers at Ssangyong Motor Co decided to stage a general strike Thursday in a bid to protest against the company's scheduled massive layoffs, the union said.

"We decided to launch a full strike to fight against the management's plan to push for the layoff scheme," said a union official at the automaker's only plant in Pyeongtaek, located south of Seoul.

A local bankruptcy court said earlier this month that Ssangyong, which has been under bankruptcy protection since February, has a survival value exceeding that of liquidation, but still needs to push for its plan to lay off 2,646 workers, or 36 percent of total workforce, to avoid liquidation.

Ssangyong, a former affiliate of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) was abandoned by its parent company in January as SAIC decided to stop making any major effort to save its affiliate.