Police take steps to end Ssangyong Motor occupation

(ATTN: UPDATES with quote, details; CHANGES headline)
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, July 20 (Yonhap) -- Riot police were set to enter the
only assembly plant of Ssangyong Motor Co. in their first court-approved action
aimed at ending a two-month occupation by some 1,000 fired workers, officials
said Monday.
Production at Ssangyong, which has been under bankruptcy protection since
February, has been suspended since May 21 as laid-off workers have resisted the
company's job-cut plan by barricading themselves inside the plant in Pyeongtaek,
about 70km south of Seoul.
With no end to the strike in sight, Ssangyong asked the court to order police to
help evict the striking workers. The request was approved early this month.
Last week, police took preparatory steps to move into the plant, using forklifts
to remove shipping containers and other barriers from the plant's four major
gates.
"To support the court's order and prevent a bloody clash from taking place,
police were ready to move into the plant as of 10:00 a.m. today," Cho Hyeon-oh,
head of the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, said at a press briefing.
The police move, which is expected to cause a clash with the striking workers,
comes as cash-strapped Ssangyong is on the verge of insolvency, hit by the
prolonged strike.
The strike has cost Ssangyong 230 billion won (US$183.2 million) in lost
production, the company said.
Ssangyong won permission to enter bankruptcy protection in exchange for carrying
out a turnaround plan that calls for 36 percent of its workforce, or 2,646
employees, to bet cut.
Since then, some 1,670 workers have left the company through voluntary retirement
plans, while the remaining 976 workers have gone on strike.
In the first six months of this year, Ssangyong's auto sales plunged 73.9 percent
from the same period last year to 13,020 units.
(END)