Ssangyong, protesters try to end 10-week occupation

(ATTN: UPDATES with new development; AMENDS headline)
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea, July 30 (Yonhap) -- Ailing Ssangyong Motor Co. and
hundreds of fired workers who are occupying part of the automaker's sole assembly
plant were making major efforts on Thursday to end the 10-week standoff, but a
deal has so far proved elusive, officials said Thursday.

The two sides resumed talks earlier in the day, but they failed to narrow
differences on how many of the fired workers should accept their layoffs and
whether the company would withdraw its legal actions against the strikers.
Talks briefly recessed with little progress reported and were set to reopen at
around 10:00 p.m., according to company officials.
An estimated 900 laid-off workers have remained holed up in the plant's paint
facility since May 22, demanding Ssangyong withdraw the layoffs.
The standoff, which turned sometimes violent, darkened prospects for the survival
of Ssangyong, which has been under bankruptcy protection since February.
Park Young-tae, a court-appointed manager at Ssangyong, and Han Sang-kyun, leader
of the Ssangyong union, started the 11th-hour talks earlier in the day, both
company and union officials said.
The key sticking point is how to treat 976 workers who were laid off under a
restructuring plan approved by the bankruptcy court.
"Talks focus on the issue of ... the laid-off workers," said Choi Sang-jin, an
executive in charge of finance and planning at Ssangyong before the recess. "Both
sides are trying to make a conclusion with strong willingness."
Ssangyong, the smallest carmaker in South Korea, received bankruptcy protection
in exchange for implementing a turnaround plan calling for 36 percent of its
workforce, or 2,646 employees, to be cut.
Since then, some 1,670 workers have left the company through voluntary retirement
plans, while the remaining 976 workers have been on strike.
Early this month, thousands of riot police moved into the factory in the city of
Pyeongtaek, located about 70km south of Seoul, and cornered protesters, who
fought back by shooting bolts and nuts from large slingshots.
Police sprayed tear gas from helicopters, but failed to enter the paint shop
because it is filled with flammable materials. Scores of protesters and police
were injured.
Court-appointed managers at Ssangyong and government officials have warned that
the ailing carmaker may become insolvent if the strike continues.
Ssangyong has to submit the turnaround plan to its creditors and a bankruptcy
judge by Sept. 15.
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.
Ssangyong is still 51-percent owned by China's Shanghai Automotive Industry
Corp., but the Chinese parent lost management control after Ssangyong entered
bankruptcy protection.
(END)