Talks between unions and management at Ssangyong Motor in South Korea have broken down again, putting the vehicle-maker’s survival in question.
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Creditors have set a Friday deadline for the company to resume production and avoid bankruptcy.
Union protests, which have included an occupation of the factory, have been going on since the end of May against planned job cuts by Ssangyong which is currently under court protection from creditors.
The union is urging management to retain all workers and rotate them in shifts but the company maintains deep manpower cuts are necessary for Ssangyong to survive.
Following the breakdown of scheduled talks, police confronted laid off union workers inside the factory for the seventh day on Sunday. Nearly 30 demonstrators were arrested during a clash with riot police.
Wielding steel pipes, about 7,000 members of a militant umbrella labour union and civic groups clashed with fully geared riot police as they attempted to enter the plant to provide water and food to the occupants of a paint shop and some other buildings.
Police have cut water and food supply to the buildings for about a week in an attempt to remove protesters from the site.
According to the Korea Times, more than 9,000 police were mobilised over the weekend, firing water cannon and tear gas at the protesters.
