Union, Top Exec to Discuss GM Korea’s Loss of Cruze

The GM Korea branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions says it has arranged a meeting between its president, Min Ki, and Tim Lee, General Motors president-international operations, to discuss General Motors’ plan not to produce the ’14 Chevrolet Cruze in Korea.

The date of the meeting has not been determined, a source close to union executives tells WardsAuto. The union also will ask for a comprehensive January meeting with the auto maker to discuss details of the production diversion and GM Korea’s plans to downsize its management and white-collar staff.

 “We think Tim Lee is more directly involved in the series of events that have recently happened than the GM CEO is, while a meeting with (CEO) Dan Akerson would have more political repercussions,” the source says.

“The union will request a special negotiation with the company in January 2013, where we expect both sides can comprehensively discuss the production reallocation and the voluntary retirement program” for management and salaried employees, the source says. “The union is suspicious that those incidents are the signs of looming redundancy.”

Union officials believe GM owes GM Korea’s designers, engineers and workers a great deal for their part in developing the Cruze, even though its new global Delta platform originally was developed for GM European subsidiary Opel’s Astra compact sedan, the source says.

“GM Daewoo, the precedessor of GM Korea, contributed a lot to its development,” he says. “And the Gunsan plant has been one of the flagship plants in terms of production of the Cruze-derived vehicle. That is why the union members are so upset.”

GM Korea President Sergio Rocha told union president Min last month the ’14 Cruze will not be built in Korea. The location that will pick up the production lost by GM Korea has not been revealed.

Since the information was made public, GM Korea has issued statements saying production of the current version of the Cruze for export to various markets will remain in Korea after the ’14 version launches.

The union balked at this, arguing continued production of a dated model to a few secondary overseas markets could not make up for the loss of next-generation Cruze production at the Gunsan plant.

GM Korea in October offered senior managers a buyout plan under which they would receive two years’ pay and other enticements to retire. Union spokesmen say few managers applied and the program did not reach its goals.

Last month, GM Korea extended a similar early retirement plan to salaried employees, hoping to significantly trim its head count. The offer includes up to two years of salary, two years of tuition for dependent children and a 10 million won ($9,200) voucher toward the purchase of a new GM Korea car.