GM Korea's labor dispute intensifies over possible walkout, facility sale tensions amid US tariff woes

An ongoing labor dispute at GM Korea, the Korean unit of General Motors, has escalated as the union secured the legal right to strike following a breakdown in wage negotiations, sources said Monday, fueling concerns that the American auto giant may scale back its production in Korea amid the threat of U.S. auto tariffs. According to the sources, the National Labor Relations Commission earlier in the day suspended its mediation of wage negotiations between GM Korea's management and the union, citing deep differences in the positions between the two sides. The suspension legally allows the union to begin collective action, intensifying a standoff already marked by widespread worker opposition to the company's plan to sell GM's Korean service centers nationwide and unutilized facilities at its plant in Bupyeong in Incheon, west of Seoul. The union has demanded the withdrawal of the asset sale plan as a precondition for the wage negotiations. In a vote carried out last month, 88.2 percent of GM Korea's 6,851 union members voted in favor of a walkout, the highest approval rate for a strike inWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times