“All union members work at Mapo Building” LG, final negotiation proposal with cleaning union

Since mid-December last year, LG has practically presented the final negotiation proposal for the establishment of a cleaning union that has been running for 56 days in the LG Twin Tower office building in Yeouido, Seoul. The content is to accommodate the major requirements of the cleaning union.

On the 9th, S&I Corporation (S&I), an LG subsidiary in charge of managing the LG Twin Tower, and Jisoo Inc. It delivered a negotiation proposal to the union to maintain employment of more than one union member. It was at the second mediation meeting held by mediation at the southern branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The protests by the cleaning unions are continuing on the first floor of the lobby of the Twin Towers office building from December 16th last year to this day. At the end of last year, S&I notified the index of the impossibility of renewing the contract due to’deterioration in service quality’, and the labor contract for 82 people who worked at Twin Towers under the index also ended on December 31 of last year.

In the meantime, there have been two major demands from the cleaning union: ▶All union members continue to work at Twin Towers and ▶to extend the retirement age of 65 years old. Of the 82 employees who worked at Twin Towers under Jisoo, 30 are currently working in the union. The remaining 30 people either moved to a new workplace after receiving comfort payments or retired at the age of 65 over the age of 65.

However, S&I and Jisoo believe that it is impossible to extend the work of Twin Towers. This is because more than 90 new cleaning workers from Baeksang Enterprises, who have received a new contract for cleaning services for Twin Towers, are working in this office building. In a phone call with JoongAng Ilbo, Kim Joong-kwon, CEO of Baek Sang Enterprise, said, “The existing company could not renew the contract due to service problems, but there is no reason to take over the existing personnel.” “We have hired a new manpower according to the company’s operating policy. There is” he said.

Accordingly, LG suggested that all 30 union members would be re-hired in the LG Mapo Building, which is the closest to Twin Tower among the buildings owned by the group affiliates. The union has been in a negative position on the conversion arrangement. It was argued that “they are trying to break up the union by scattering 30 union members to different workplaces.” Regarding this, S&I said, “If all 30 people are hired in one place, there is no fear of union collapse.”

LG Mapo Building, which is about 3km away from Twin Tower, is owned by LG Corp., the group’s holding company. The Jisoo headquarters is also located here.

S&I and the index have also suggested that they will retain employment for workers over the age of 65. If health permits, the contract will be extended every year. The current retirement age is 60, but you can work by signing a contract for each year until the age of 65.

The cleaning union has been demonstrating at the LG Twin Tower, the LG Mapo Building in Mapo-gu, the LG Gwanghwamun Building in Jongno-gu, and the Cheongunhyo Automated Resident Center in Jongno-gu in front of the Blue House in solidarity with citizens and labor organizations.

Reporter Choi Hyun-joo [email protected]