Ailing automaker GM Korea failed to reach an agreement with its labor union on Wednesday,... although it proposed a relocation program for the remaining workers at its Gunsan plant, which is scheduled to shut next month. <br />With only a day left until the April 20th deadline set by its U.S. headquarters,... GM Korea's management and union will hold another round of talks today.<br />Kim Hyo-sun tells us more. <br /> The ninth wage negotiation meeting between GM Korea and its labor union ended Wednesday with no agreement. <br />GM Korea called for the union to accept by Friday a self-help package that would cut some 94 million U.S. dollars-worth of welfare costs.<br />Friday is the deadline set by GM Korea's headquarters in the U.S.<br /> It also offered to relocate the 680 workers left at the Gunsan plant to factories in other parts of the country to ensure they are no laid off.<br />The management explained that the plan entails voluntary retirement by its workers at the Gunsan plant,... and a gradual relocation of the remaining employees to three plants in Bupyeong and Changwon.<br />It added that those who have been excluded from the relocation program will be put on five-year unpaid leave until the company normalizes its plant operations in 2022.<br /> The union said it cannot agree on the proposal as the company hasn't offered the exact number of employees who may be transferred nor a timeframe for the relocation.<br />Some 19-hundred out of the 26-hundred Gunsan plant workers have already filed for the voluntary retirement program and quit the company with a severance package. <br /> With only a day remaining before the deadline,... the company and the union will meet once again on Thursday. <br />Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News. <br />
