Lafarge SA

ILO violation 87 : Woojin Industry, a sub-contract firm created by former LaFarge Halla middle managers which operates directly under the orders and control of LaFarge Halla, launched a campaign of intimidation against its 35 employees when it learned that more than two-thirds of them had joined the Korean Chemical and Textile Workers Federation (KCTF) in early March. On 9 March, two days after learning of the workers’ action, La Farge Halla proposed a new set of plans for its ten sub-contract firms in its Okgye factory that proposed phasing out Woojin Industry. Former LaFarge Halla management employee Kim Eunsoo, the CEO of Woojin, reported the news to the workers the same day and in the first of many instances directly tied the unionisation of the employees to a future decision on whether Woojin would shut down. Woojin workers report that on 11 March, in a meeting with all the workers, Kim Eunsoo clearly stated that "If you abandon joining the union, I will not close down the company." When the KCTF met with Kim Eunsoo on 28 March to initiate collective bargaining, he refused to enter substantive negotiations because he stated the Woojin would close down on 31 March. Woojin ended operations on 1 April, and transferred its equipment and assets to two other sub-contract firms substantially controlled by LaFarge Halla. On 25 September, the Gangwon Regional Labour Relations Commission ruled that LaFarge Halla is the real employer of the dismissed KCTF members – thereby decisively shredding the myth of Woojin’s independence from LaFarge – and ordered the reinstatement by LaFarge of all workers who had been employed for more than two years, and pay these workers for the period of time since they were terminated on 31 March. Since LaFarge Halla did not follow that Commission’s order, the KCTF requested on 16 October that the National Labour Relations Commission take action, and at the end of the year, that case was still pending. On 18 December, the Gangwon Regional LRC issued a second order, finding that LaFarge Halla had engaged in unfair labour practices, and had violated the TULRAA sections 84 and 86 by failing to implement the previous order to reinstate the fired workers. The KCTF filed a complaint with the Korean National Contact Point (NCP), alleging that LaFarge Halla had violated numerous provisions of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The NCP’s response was highly unsatisfactory because it limited itself to disputing interpretations of the Guidelines, repeating allegations by management, and ultimately refusing to conduct any further investigation until the National Labour Relations Commission had issued a ruling.: South Korea

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