About 300 rank-and-file members to return, excluding union leadership

Union calls move a 'tactical shift,' not a surrender

Partial strikes to continue; conflict expected to persist

Union leaders at Leeno Industrial, a Busan-based semiconductor test component maker, hold a shaved-head hunger strike on Aug. 14. [Yonhap]
Union leaders at Leeno Industrial, a Busan-based semiconductor test component maker, hold a shaved-head hunger strike on Aug. 14. [Yonhap]

The union at Leeno Industrial, a Busan-based semiconductor test component maker, announced Tuesday it would end its indefinite general strike and return to work Wednesday, after more than two months on the picket line.

About 300 rank-and-file members — excluding union leadership — are set to return to their posts. In a notice sent to members Monday, however, the union drew a line, saying the move was "not an abandonment of the struggle or a withdrawal of demands, but a tactical shift to reduce harm to members."

The union said the prolonged general strike had left members' livelihoods in a state it could no longer ignore. It added that because management had announced it would scrap all previously discussed terms — talks that had come close to a final agreement on Sept. 8 — the union felt it needed to revisit the entire bargaining process from scratch, including concessions it had already considered and offered.

The union said it had been prepared to review new concessions or adjustable terms once management appeared at the official bargaining table, but that management had not shown up. "We concluded that meaningful results can no longer come from a process of repeated informal meetings," it said.

The union plans to continue its fight through partial strikes and other actions after returning to work, meaning the conflict is expected to persist for now. The union is also closely watching the outcome of a special labor inspection by the Busan Regional Employment and Labor Office scheduled during the Chuseok holiday period, and plans to push for company executives to be called as witnesses at the National Assembly's national audit — raising the possibility that the labor dispute could escalate to the legislative and government level.

Leeno Industrial makes test components for semiconductor inspection and posted sales of around 370 billion won ($267 million) last year, making it the top company by market capitalization in Busan. Workers formed a union in March and launched a full strike on July 23 — the first in the company's history since its founding in 1974. More than 340 of the 665 eligible employees joined the walkout, which stretched on for more than two months. Management has said the strike caused losses of roughly 2 billion won per day and led some orders to shift to competitors in Taiwan and Japan.

The two sides had narrowed their differences considerably on Sept. 8, reaching a tentative agreement on wages and working conditions, but a dispute over wording during the final review caused talks to collapse, and no formal negotiations have been held since. The union held a press conference in front of the Busan Regional Employment and Labor Office on Aug. 27, calling for a special labor inspection and launching an indefinite hunger strike.


kaf2002@heraldcorp.com