Ssangyong Workers End Strike

The workers' union at South Korea's Chinese-controlled Ssangyong Motor Co announced yesterday it would end a seven-week dispute, according to sources close to the company.

Unionised workers at Ssangyong Motor Co voted on Wednesday to accept a revised wage deal after voting down an initial agreement last week, said South Korea's fourth-largest carmaker.

About 58 percent of its union members at the factory voted in favor of an agreement to end a three-week all-out strike that has cost the company at least 17,000 vehicles.

Shares in Ssangyong Motor Co surged the most in a year as the strike ended.

An official with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) said production at the SAIC-controlled company would resume today. The SAIC has a 51 percent share in the automaker and is well-known for its sport utility and diesel powered vehicles. The SAIC took over the company in late 2004, making it China's first company to own a foreign carmaker.

"We are happy to see the walkout solved. And we hope the business will return to normal as soon as possible," the official said.

Under the new deal, Ssangyong Motor has agreed to drop planned job cuts and promised to invest US$1.25 billion in the next four years to develop new models and engines, Ssangyong Motor union officials were quoted as saying.

(China Daily September 1, 2006)