April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Members of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union at Bosch Electrical Drives are on a relay one-person strike in front of the Germany Embassy in Seoul to protest the firm’s alleged discrimination.

There are currently two unions at the subsidiary of German engineering giant Bosch, comprising 382 workers. The one on strike has 60 members, and is smaller. Members say the company is mistreating them in favor of the bigger union.

“The company kicked us out of the union office, and some members including myself were disciplined for going on legal strike and received smaller pay for a couple of years,” Lee Hwa-wun, a member of the smaller union told The Investor.

The problem goes back to 2012 when the bigger union that is friendly with the management was formed. He argued that his union has been discriminated since then.

The union said it decided to stage protests this month because they heard that the Germany has adopted an action plan on human rights.

The National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights was adopted by Germany on Dec. 21 last year. It urges companies to introduce policies to conduct human rights due diligence by 2020. It is not legally binding.

Bosch Korea, meanwhile, said it was in the process of reaching an agreement.

“We are well-aware of the strike, and are in talks to reach a compromise,” Bosch spokesperson Kwon Tae-hyun told The Investor.

Conflicts in Korea among companies with multiple unions are quite common. Corporations like Continental Automotive Korea, Valeo Service Korea and AVO Carbon Korea faced a similar situation in the past.

The foreign companies, on the other hand, argue that the unions in Korea are too rigid.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)