Kumho Tire union accepts wage deal, ends strike

GWANGJU, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) -- Unionized workers at Kumho Tire Co., South Korea's
second-largest tire maker, ended their strike on Saturday after agreeing to a
compromise with the company's management over wages and layoffs.
Unionized workers at the company's plants in Gwangju, Geokseong and Pyeongtaek
have been on strike since late Friday over wages, working conditions and
lay-offs.
Representatives from the management and union ended 12-hours of negotiations,
agreeing to freeze basic wages at 2008 levels and with the management promising
to cancel some 700 planned layoffs, according to company officials.
The union also agreed that no special bonuses would be paid for work from last
year and that talks would be held to determine this year's bonus payments in the
first quarter of 2010.
"Despite ongoing management difficulties, we've been able to avoid massive
layoffs through the negotiation with the union," one company official said,
adding that management seeks to regain competitiveness with the "win-win"
agreement.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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