Renault Korea Busan plant / Courtesy of Renault Korea
By Kim Hyun-bin
The Renault Korea union is preparing to go on strike, filing for a labor dispute mediation with the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), Friday.
The union announced in a two-day vote that ended on Thursday, 1,332, or 80.6 percent of 1,653 union members who participated in the vote, agreed on the industrial action to secure the legal right to strike. The union has a total of 1,852 members.
Following the decision by the union members, the union filed for a labor dispute mediation with the National Labor Relations Commission, Friday. As long as there are no major incidents, the union will have the right to strike legally from July 26, after 10 days of mediation by the commission.
Renault Korea CEO Stephane Deblaise
"There will likely be one or two mediation meetings, but the company's position is not expected to change," a union official said.
Labor and management held the 5th main negotiations on July 7, but could not narrow their differences on the "multi-year collective bargaining agreement," which is the main issue. The union requested that management withdraw the "multi-year collective bargaining agreement," saying that it was intended to neutralize the union by removing the three labor rights, but it was not accepted.
All eyes are on Stephane Deblaise, who became the company's new CEO in March and whether he will speedily resolve the issue, as the strike comes at a time when Renault Korea aims to find success in its new car launches and production normalization.
Renault Korea came out with its new company name in May after dropping Samsung from its title.
