Court rejects GM Korea union's request for provisional injunction to close direct maintenance center 'with momentum from asset sale'

*This content was translated by AI.

The management's restructuring of its business has gained momentum as GM Korea's labor union's request for an injunction filed with the court to block the closure of nine direct maintenance centers nationwide was rejected. According to the legal community and the automobile industry on the 15th, the Incheon District Court's Civil Affairs Department 21 rejected an application for a "disposition prohibiting former jobs" filed by the GM Korea branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union against the company on the 13th. The ruling officially ended the existing duties of more than 400 employees at the direct management center as of the 13th, and the management's plan to relocate its personnel has secured legal justification.

In November last year, GM Korea announced a plan to close nine direct maintenance centers in major cities across the country, including Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Gwangju and Busan, as of Feb. 15 this year to improve profitability and efficiently reorganize their businesses. This was recorded as the first case of completely shutting down direct maintenance facilities among the five domestic automakers. The company has set a policy to secure financial soundness by selling assets such as direct management center sites, and to provide customer service through 380 cooperative maintenance centers (service networks) nationwide in the future.

In response, the union has strongly opposed the outsourcing of automobile safety services, saying that it will lead to consumer damage. On the 26th of last month, the union filed an injunction with the court and demanded the suspension of the closure of the direct maintenance shop, but the court did not accept the union's claim. Following the court's decision to dismiss it, GM Korea will begin follow-up procedures, such as closing its direct maintenance base and relocating the personnel to other departments in the workplace as scheduled.

After the court decision, the management said it would continue to communicate with the union to ensure the employment of the employees and to minimize confusion at the site. However, the union still expressed concern over the decision, citing poor service quality and job insecurity, raising the possibility that labor-management labor-management pain will continue for the time being in the process of deploying manpower. The ruling is interpreted as an example of the broad recognition of the scope of management rights in the process of restructuring and asset sales of companies suffering from deteriorating profitability.

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*This content was translated by AI.