Chapter 257

Chapter 257

The all-out strike of the Eunseong Tea Union was passing without any results.

It is not enough to make a living and live on a daily basis as it is a life-and-death job at a large corporation, but it is fatal for a wage earner to cut off monthly income.

Among the union members, there was a talk about whether they should return to work even on weekends. The strike will continue on weekdays, but work on the weekends.

I wonder what this is, but weekend overtime pay is 50% higher than weekdays. Therefore, it is calculated that even if you return to work only two days on the weekend, you can receive three days’ worth of workweeks.

Joo Seong-moo, chairman of the union, encouraged union members to hold on a little longer.

As the strike continued for nearly a month, Eunseong-cha could not stand it any longer. The loss in sales has already exceeded trillions, and stock prices have plummeted.

The dissatisfaction of shareholders has reached its peak, and there have been rumors that a shareholders’ meeting will be held to change the management.

In the end, even to preserve the seat, Chairman Chan-Young Han will have to come to the negotiating table first.

Meanwhile, the bosses of the subcontractors came to the union as a group and pleaded with tears to stop the strike.

Automobile manufacturers are associated with numerous parts makers. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are in crisis even if the money is not circulating in a few months.

If the subcontractors go bankrupt, it will be difficult to supply parts until production resumes after that. Then, even if you return to work, it will take a long time to recover the previous production.

Despite these concerns, union chairman Joo Seong-moo shifted all responsibility to the management and said that if the management accepts the union’s demands, it will be a problem that will be resolved.

In a way, they are fighting with the jobs of other workers as hostages… … That was unavoidable.

“The deadline is just a few days away. The management will have no choice but to accept our request!”

All the members felt the same way.

But suddenly, it was announced that Eunsung Motors would sign a business agreement with OTK Company.

Eunsung Motor’s stock as well as the group’s stock soared in an instant, and shareholders cheered. As soon as the agreement was signed, Karos immediately returned some of the orders to Korea to refresh the partners.

The announcement that followed was even more shocking.

“what? Do you plan to cooperate with OTK Company and Seoseong Group to create an electric vehicle industrial complex?”

“An annual salary of 36 million won?”

“Come on, wait. That’s less than half of our salary.”

“Then what will we do?”

“You don’t even get union permission to make such an investment!”

“You hit someone in the head like this?”

The reason Eunsung Motors has not built a new plant in Korea for over 20 years is to not increase the number of domestic labor unions any more.

However, the wages of the newly hired workers are not linked with the existing Eunsung employees, but with the wages of other workers in the industrial complex. A collective bargaining agreement is also carried out, and the same applies to wage increases.

Because of this, it is difficult to use the current fighting method that only asks for a raise in the wages of regular workers belonging to certain large corporations.

If the Eunseong Tea Union had insisted on raising the wages of non-regular workers and workers of subcontractors together, would they have been able to receive such a wage?

Controversy over high wages and frequent strikes has continued from the past, and public opinion has deteriorated extremely with this long strike.

In this situation, if a new job with the same work at lower wages is created, the monopoly position that the union has enjoyed will be shaken.

The unions never wanted to create new jobs that threatened their position.

Now, wage increases or preferential hiring of union members’ children are no longer a problem. At any rate, it had to stop the electric vehicle industrial complex and the creation of new jobs.

Joo Seong-moo, chairman of the union, immediately distributed a press release to the media and issued a statement.

“The Eunsung Auto Union opposes the investment in the electric vehicle industrial complex that seeks to reduce the wages of all workers, level down, and instability in employment! Eunsung Motors’ participation in the investment in the electric vehicle industrial complex led by OTK Company is a humiliating agreement to overcome the Eunsung Motor Group’s management succession issue and the worst business crisis. This agreement will ultimately lead to a bigger business crisis and deterioration in profitability as Eunsung Motor becomes a production base for Karos. If the management continues to invest in violation of the collective agreement, the union will punish the management for breach of business and the collective agreement. You will be asked for legal action for violations. It also defines this as a declaration of war for the catastrophe of labor-management relations, and reveals that all responsibility lies with Chairman Chan-Young Han and his management! The Eunseong Tea Union will risk its life and fight to the end to prevent this!”

* * *

Not only the Confederation of Trade Unions, to which the Eunseong Cha Union belongs, but also the Korean Federation of Trade Unions fiercely protested.

“The electric vehicle industrial complex led by OTK Company lowers the wages of workers, and there is a risk of causing a no-no-no conflict! If President Kang Jin-hoo ignores this and goes ahead with it, the labor community will have no choice but to face it with a general strike, a general uprising, and a solidarity struggle!”

The two major trade unions immediately decided to hold a general rally in Gwanghwamun on the coming weekend. According to the organizers, there were only 50,000 people.

However, not all labor unions agreed. The SME unions and irregular workers were not able to speak openly because they were noticing the unions of large companies, but the atmosphere was warmly welcoming.

Politics and the Internet were noisy again.

-It’s also Hell Chosun. When companies say they create jobs, unions rise up.

-They already have high-paying jobs.

– I got tired of the Eunseong Tea Union class. Even the company’s management will file a complaint.

– ㅋㅋ The union is talking about its own company. According to the union members’ words, I will never buy a silver car in the future.

– Can’t we just die instead of fighting to the death?

– Wage reduction and leveling? That’s crazy. You must have taken care of subcontractors and in-house non-regular workers like that.

– I also want to be part of the two major labor unions. But the reality is a non-regular worker who earns 1.8 million won a month.

– I wonder how Kang Jin-hoo will come out.

– Can’t we just not invest? Countries that are trying to attract that industrial complex must be lining up now.

– Ms., then it can’t be. Let me get a job too.

* * *

Almost all local governments have stepped out to attract factories. No matter where you are, you are thirsty for quality jobs.

Local government heads and politicians flocked in droves. Among them were members of the Liberal National Party.

If it succeeds in attracting a factory, it is a local election and a general election. That’s why it hasn’t even started yet, but it’s already on fire.

I entrusted the meeting with them to Sangyeop senior. Personally, I don’t want to get too close with politicians, whether they are liberals or conservatives.

However, the expected problem occurred.

In front of OTK Company, dozens of Eunseong Tea unions gathered and held a protest. The same protest took place in front of the Eunseong car.

The union declared that if Eunsung Motors did not fall out of the industrial complex investment plan, there would be no return to work, and that it would fight to the end by all means.

Without wasting time, I brought in Joo Seong-moo and union members to the company.

Middle-aged men in their 40s and 50s wearing red vests with red belts on their foreheads entered the conference room. They are so-called full-time union workers, so they don’t actually work in factories, but are in charge of union-related work.

As they were representatives of the workers, the atmosphere that everyone exuded was not normal.

I remember back when I was negotiating with the Karos union in America. Fortunately, Eun Sung-cha’s union members were not physically at that level.

At that time, I thought there were some professional wrestlers out there. Does it make sense that a person is over 2 meters tall?

I held out my hand and said.

“nice to meet you. This is Jinhoo Kang.”

“I’m Seong-moo Joo, chairman of the union, Eun Seong-cha.

A man in his fifties with bald hair grabbed my hand. The reason his hair is missing is that he just shaved his head in front of the company.

I think I look a lot better now because my hair was originally half bald.

We finished our awkward greetings and sat down.

“We are here to hear your opinions. If you have something you want to say, please feel free to say it.”

Joo Seong-moo, chairman of the labor union, vomited in a hoarse voice.

Wage downward leveling, job insecurity, wage gap, regional gap, etc. They had already issued press releases to the press and shouted out in front of the company.

“If 15,000 jobs are created in one region, 15,000 jobs are lost in another region. Ultimately, this widens regional wage gaps, creates new wage gaps, worsens labor-management relations, reduces manufacturing competitiveness, and results in an overall economic recession!”

Taek-gyu asked me in a low voice.

“What the hell is this? So, if you create jobs, you mean that the Republic of Korea will perish?”

“… … .”

I don’t even know what you mean Why do they say they want to protect their rice bowls in this way?

Instead of refusing to refute the claim, I just kept listening. For over an hour, the union members unilaterally poured out their words, and I kept nodding my head.

“i See. You were concerned about those things. I am well aware of your concerns. I feel ashamed of myself for trying to go ahead with these serious concerns and concerns. Thanks to this, it was a time for me to look back and reflect deeply.”

Joo Seong-moo, chairman of the union, continued to shout.

“Then what are you going to do? Aren’t you just trying to say you know and just go ahead with it?”

I shook my head.

“Is it possible? I am not such a caseless person. I promise that no matter what happens, I will not ignore the labor community and force it.”

Then, union chairman Joo Seong-moo and the union members next to him looked embarrassed.

“Do you have anything more to say?”

Having said this, there was nothing more I could say.

The union members exchanged glances with each other.

‘Is this okay?’

‘It seems so… … .’

‘Then why do you feel so bad?

It seemed that these eyes were about to come and go.

After the conversation was over, the union members went back, leaving only me and Taek-gyu.

It is a fact that we already knew that the Eunseong Tea Union and the two major labor unions would protest. If I ignored it and went ahead with it, it was obvious that noise would continue to come out in the process.

Investing is hard to get out of once you start. If the politicians and local governments, who have noticed the established unions, properly guide the licenses and permits in the process of creating an industrial complex, or delay the project for reasons such as environmental impact assessment, it is a pain in the ass.

In reality, such a thing is rare.

“Just like the ward office forbids the building of university dormitories because the studio owners are against it?”(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

“That’s it.”

“Taxi drivers are against it, so we cannot share rides, and the labor union is against it, so we cannot build an industrial complex. What can you do in this country?”

Politicians who should actively step forward to mediate and resolve conflicts are only looking at both sides. Because if you go out for nothing, you will be cursed everywhere like me.

“If we want to proceed with the work, we have to make sure that we close the knot at this opportunity so that we don’t say anything else later.”

Taek-gyu asked.

“How?”

I chuckled.

“How are you? You have to do what you ask.”

* * *

I again appeared in front of the press.

“As everyone knows, the Korean manufacturing industry is currently in a major crisis. To overcome this crisis, we tried to create new jobs in cooperation with Suseong Group, Eunsung Motor Group, and several small and medium-sized enterprises, but in the end it only caused more confusion. We decided that it was impossible to push ahead with the current plan forcibly without reaching an agreement with the labor community. Therefore, we actively accept the labor circle’s argument and suspend all investment plans planned for Korea.”

The reporters were astonished by my words.

“Then, will the electric vehicle industrial complex be canceled?”

“What will happen to the business agreements that the three companies have signed in the past?”

I shook my head.

“The electric vehicle industrial complex is planned to be built in other countries in Asia except for Korea to avoid opposition from the labor community, and discussions have already begun to select a candidate country.”

Reporters kept asking questions.

“Has this been discussed in advance with the Suseong Group and the Eunsung Cha Group?”

“Did Chairman Han Chan-young agree?”

“What is the opinion of Chairman Im Jin-yong?”

I just cut it off.

“There is no need for discussion. All final decisions on investment plans are made by me.”

So I eat all the cursing.

I continued my presentation while looking at the camera.

“Autonomous electric vehicles are a key industry of the future and demand is expected to explode in the future. OTK Company, Suseong Group, and Eunsung Motor Group are planning to more than double the size of their production complex in Asia to lead the future car sector. In addition to the previously announced industrial complexes, we will build one or two additional sites. Of course, all additional investments will be made in Asian countries except for Korea. Lastly, we apologize for causing concern to the Eunseong Tea Union and the workers of the two major labor unions. So, I beg you to stop the strike and return to work. That is all.”