GM offers S. Korean workers VSS
SEOUL: General Motors’ (GM) South Korean unit is offering workers three times their annual base salary, money for college tuition and more than US$9,000 (RM35,280) towards a new car as part of a voluntary redundancy plan at the troubled carmaker.
The package, made in a notice to employees came after GM said on Tuesday it will shut the plant in the southwestern city of Gunsan by May and decide within weeks on the fate of its remaining three factories in the country.
GM workers at a South Korean plant staged a protest yesterday against its planned closure, calling the move by the United States carmaker a “death sentence”, and threatening a strike.
The so-called voluntary separation scheme (VSS), opened to employees on Tuesday, will last until March 2, according to the internal document.
“This is the most compensation we can provide, given our management conditions and it will be difficult for us to offer more benefits,” said the company in the letter.
“GM Korea has recorded a financial loss of nearly three trillion won (RM10.9 billion) over the past four years and continues to make losses as a result of low utilisation rates, continued rises in labour costs and an excessive workforce,” said the letter.
Detroit-based GM has said it will book an US$850 million charge to reflect the restructuring costs, including US$375 million in cash related to employee expenses.