The company has been sold to Daewoo, resold to Ssangyong, and then to Shanghai automotive Industry Corporation(SAIC). Throughout this there has been a continuous outflow of company technology and labor repression.
SAIC Motor released the new SUV, Roewe, which was made using Kyron technology. The technology transfer fee was 24 billion won, only one tenth the normal cost spent in developing a new car.
After the accounting fraud, SAIC Motor filed for court receivership. Having a major shareholder file for court receivership is very rare. In April, SAIC, by announcing its plan for large-scale layoffs of 2,646 workers, shifted all of the responsibility onto the workers.
More than 1,000 workers occupied the Pyeongtaek factory. They held out for 77 days there, surviving on rusty water from engine coolant. The company, police, and thugs hired with 30 hundred million KRW proceeded to commit intense violence, cutting off the water, electricity and food supply for the rest of the struggle.
Enduring 77 days of fear, the workers faced police commandos who struck them with shields and batons. The national police agency mentioned the attack as one of their most successful examples of suppression.
Ssangyong was acquired by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. The production-sales levels exceeded those from before the financial crisis, nonetheless, none of the laid-off workers were reinstated. Since Mahindra has not invested in Ssangyong at all after the acquisition, it looks like its ultimate goal may be the outflow of technology.
Sudden deaths, suicides, depressions... Since the struggle, 22 workers and their family members have lost their lives. There must not be a 23rd.
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