USW challenges Kumho position on unionization

PITTSBURGH — The United Steelworkers union is raising concerns with South Korea President Moon Jae-in about Kumho Tire Co. Inc.'s actions toward its workers in the U.S. ahead of an upcoming National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) vote at Kumho's Macon, Ga., plant.

USW President Leo W. Gerard has asked Mr. Moon to intervene and ensure that the workers at Kumho's new plant in Macon be allowed to exercise their democratic rights in voting to unionize, claiming that because Kumho Tire is under control of a creditors' committee led by Korean Development Bank, the South Korean government could be held directly responsible for the behavior of the company's management.

Kumho officials could not be reached for comment.

"We request that you communicate with Kumho Tire as soon as possible to request that their management at the Macon plant immediately desist from all anti-union activities, adopt a clear position of neutrality in the upcoming NLRB election and allow the workers to exercise their right to freedom of association without interference," Mr. Gerard wrote in his letter to Mr. Moon.

The election is scheduled to take place on Oct. 12 and 13. The union filed a petition with the NLRB on Sept. 19 to conduct a union election for more than 300 workers at the site.

Mr. Gerard claims that Kumho Tire management has responded to the election petition in a hostile manner by requiring workers to attend captive audience meetings where managers have attempted to dissuade them from their effort to form a union.

He added when workers asked whether or not employees in South Korea are unionized, they refused to answer and that Kumho has hired anti-union consultants who have posted "misleading and inaccurate information" on an anti-union website.

Mr. Gerard said that employees at the site have raised several concerns — including the right to fair and equal treatment, with no discrimination, retaliation, favoritism or harassment — and that seniority should be the basis of selection for job signing, awarding overtime and scheduling vacation.

He stressed that employees believe safety should be a "proactive value in the workplace," and that everyone is entitled to a safe work environment with adequate training, availability of personal protective equipment and written standards/procedures.

"We are concerned that by opposing the efforts of its workers to exercise their right to freedom of association by forming a union," Mr. Gerard said, "Kumho Tire may violate its obligations under international agreements including Convention 87 of the International Labor Organization, Chapter 19 of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, among others."

He added that the company's behavior could have an impact in the possible renegotiation of the KORUS Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and South Korea.