20150212 要求永豐餘集團撤回惡性關閉韓國工廠及解雇韓國勞工之決議

永豐餘集團旗下的元太科技決議關閉位於韓國京畿道利川的Hydis工廠，這項決定將導致約800名韓國勞工失業。

韓國有一句話「解雇即殺人」。事實上，當2009年韓國SSangYong汽車（雙龍汽車）大量解雇勞工時，就有26名勞工因為不明原因而自殺，選擇離開這個世界。

如今，在2014年已經獲利29億元台幣的Hydis，竟也為了公司更大的欲望而決議關閉工廠。尤其是公司在往後的十年間，已經確定會有145億元台幣的專利授權入帳。我們由衷希望，Hydis的狀況不會重演Ssanyyong汽車的悲劇。

雖然元太科技對外聲稱要與勞工積極協商，但是就在對話的前一天，公司竟通知全體勞工決定解雇一事。即便到現在，公司在決定關閉工廠與解雇勞工之前，從不曾找過工會協商，一次都沒有。在韓國，這種行為被視為像在「背脊上插一刀」，在勞資關係上也會被批評為失去信賴及對企業社會責任的忽視。相信超越國界的台灣也有相同的想法。永豐餘（元太科技）必須為此事負起責任。

代表Hydis員工的6名勞動者，今天將從永豐餘旗下的信誼基金會辦公室前，以「三步一跪」的方式苦行。Hydis員工以這種行動向上天呼告勞動者的寃曲，同時也包含著即使粉身碎骨，也要堅決守護勞動者的意志。

此外，由臺灣數個社運團體組成的「臺灣聲援Hydis工人連線（Hydis連線）」也對Hydis勞工的訴求表示支持，同時強烈譴責永豐餘集團的此種行徑，未來並將共同參與行動。Hydis連線認為永豐餘集團表現出企業最惡劣的負面示範。永豐餘宛如只想取得韓國技術、但卻又拋棄員工的「落跑」企業，台灣人民決不認同此種行徑。

台灣聲援Hydis工人連線希望永豐餘集團能撤回關閉工廠及解雇員工的決定，儘早出面解決問題。否則，韓國Hydis員工將會號召更多勞動者加入遠征台灣抗爭的行列，而「Hydis連線」也將邀請更多台灣公民加入聲援。

2015年2月12日
韓國民主勞總全國金屬勞動工會
韓國勞總全國金屬勞動工會聯盟
台灣聲援Hydis工人聯合戰線

附錄：Hydis工人遭遇詳細說明資料

□ Press Release (embargoed for 2015.2.12)

□ From : Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU-KCTU) / Federation of Korean Metalworkers’ Unions (FKMTU-FKTU) / Taiwan labor and civil society organizations

□ To :  News, Wire, Media in Taiwan

1. Invitation to Press Conference

South Korean workers have come to Taiwan to fight the unethical management behavior of Taiwan’s Yeung Foong Yu (YFY Group) affiliate E Ink Holdings. Our company used to employ some 2000 workers, but after a mainland Chinese company and this Taiwanese company took over our company, there has been no investment but rather only selling out of our key technology, leaving only 377 workers.

In 2014, our company, Hydis Technologies made profits of over 100 billion KRW (about 2,883,939,000 NTD) but now YFY Group affiliate E Ink Holdings is going to close our plant and fire all the workers.

We are the employees working at Hydis Technologies, a company in Korea that owns Fringe Field Switching (FFS) technology, a key technology in the electronics LCD industry. We are put in such a difficult situation and suffer such desperate anguish that we have traversed borders from Korea to tell the good people of Taiwan our painful story.

We entreat you to hear us, we respectfully ask for your support and solidarity, and we request your coverage of our arduous plight. Thank you.

2. Overview of the Hydis Technologies Situation

(1) About Hydis Technologies

○명  칭: 하이디스테크놀로지(주)

*대만계 회사(EIH)가 95% 지분 보유

○소재지: 대한민국 경기도 이천시 부발읍 SK하이닉스 단지 內

○대  표: 제이슨 리(린밍청)

○업  종: 반도체·광학·LCD 제조업

○근로자: 377명

○설립일: 2001년 7월1일

○Name: Hydis Union, affiliated to Federation of Korean Metalworkers’ Trade Unions (FKMTU-FKTU), which is affiliated to Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU)

○ Chair : KO, Woo-Jung (133 members)

○ Formation : 20 April 2009

○ Collective Agreement: existing wage and (collective bargaining) agreement runs until 31 March 2015 (wage agreement) and 31 March 2016 (local collective bargaining agreement)

(2) Overview of the Current Situation

– Background Chronology

2001          Hydis was spun off from Hyundai Electronics (Hyundai Display Technologies)

2002.11    Mainland China’s BOE Group took over Hydis

2006.9      BOE announced Hydis’s bankruptcy and put it under court receivership (2 years)

2008         Taiwan’s PVI(Currently EIH) took over Hydis

2013          400 workers left the company through “Early Retirement Program”
2015.1.7    Company notified there would be a plant closure and redundancy dismissal of all the workers

2015.1.29 Company announces unilateral “Early Retirement Program” asking workers to resign

– Problematic Aspects

In the wake of the Hyundai Electronics bankruptcy of 2002, Hydis was spun off and mainland-China’s “BOE” took over Hydis. Claiming that they wanted to share Hydis’s key original Fringe Field Switching (FFS) technology, BOE integrated Hydis’s computer network with their servers in mainland China. In 2008, an investigation by the public prosecution service uncovered 4,331 cases of technology leaked to BOE. Because of this law-breaking, one of the company executives was sent to jail.

Hydis’s key technology was sold out to Hydis’s competitors and to China. The company was put under bankruptcy in 2006. In 2007 Taiwan’s YFY Group affiliate, E ink Holdings, took over Hydis Technologies. E Ink Holdings invested close to nothing in either continued technology development and in the facilities of the Hydis plant in Icheon.
Under the Taiwanese owners, management continued to leak Hydis’ key technology to its market competitors and from 2011, the management began deliberately reducing the production volume to idle the plant with an extended temporary shutdown.  In May of 2012, through a nearly compulsory “recommended resignation” to employees and again in early 2013, some 500 out of 900 workers left the company. By the end of 2014 only 377 workers were left. In the early 2000’s the Icheon plant had employed some 2,000 workers.

The workers are bearing the brunt of the damage done by BOE and YFY Group affiliate, E Ink Holding’s indiscriminate leaking of key technology to competitors and selling out of Hydis patents without any re-investment back into Hydis.

If E Ink Holdings invested even a portion of Hydis’ 2014 earnings — nearly 100 billion KRW (about 2.9 billion TWD) – from licensing out Hydis’ patents and royalties back into technological development and upgrading the production facilities, it would be enough to run Hydis properly and normalize production volume.

For the 5 years between 2008 and 2012, E Ink Holdings invested a total of only 40 billion KRW (about 1,154,487,075 TWD over a 5 year period) into maintaining the plant. This means their investment-to-sales ratio is only a mere 2%. Further, E Ink Holdings has outsourced a significant volume of production to their daughter companies in Taiwan and is giving E Ink Holdings’ suppliers free reign with Hydis’ key original FFS technology.

After all this, the company announced to the workers on January 7, 2015 that it would close the plant and fire all the workers. On January 29, 2015 the company began unilateral restructuring of the workforce by announcing a unilateral “Early Retirement Program” to try to get workers to accept severance and seems to be advancing to the stage of “cut and run,” or as we say in Korea “eat and run (without paying back the restaurant).”

3. Korean workers requirements to Taiwan’s YFY Group (E Ink Holdings)

Withdraw your decision of plant closure and mass dismissal of all the workers!

YFY Group (and affiliate E Ink Holdings), engage in direct dialogue with the Korean workers!

1. Even though we conveyed our concerns to prevent a tragedy where 800 Korean workers would be pushed out to the street because of the E Ink Board of Directors’ decision, the Hydis management has been refusing to participate in collective bargaining with the union, and the management has begun pushing through a unilateral restructuring on the workers.

2. E Ink said on January 19, 2015 (Monday)through the ROCMU (Republic of China Metalworkers’ Unions) that :

– that they have no concrete timeline for plant closure, or in the ROCMU words: “no exact schedule for closing the plant in Korea,”

– that “all the requests from the KMWU Hydis Local (majority union) and FKMTU Hydis white collar union (minority union) were well noted by E-Ink Taiwan and will be discussed internally,”

and last, regarding the KMWU Hydis Local/FKMTU Hydis white collar union joint request for “direct dialogue” with the Taiwanese decision-makers,

– that “E-Ink will seriously consider the request from HYDIS worker’s union, and will discuss with HYDIS workers’ union representatives soon.”

But despite this, in fact the company began closing the plant in Korea and began unilaterally restructuring the workforce. We cannot understand this contradictory situation.

3. We had heard that the YFY Group – to which E Ink is an affiliate – is a fairly large sized corporation that has the confidence and trust of the public in Taiwan. A truly global corporation would try to fulfill its social responsibility and live in communication and harmony with the local community even if it crosses borders into another country.

Further, Hydis’ expected earnings of near 100 billion KRW (about 2.9 billion TWD); this does not give credibility to the company’s claims that business circumstances are so exigent and urgent that it needs to close the plant and fire all the workers. Thus, this plant closure and mass dismissal does not appear in line with the Korean law’s conditionality of truly “urgent business exigencies,” and as they breach the Korean law, we call on YFY (E Ink) to immediately withdraw the plant clsure and mass dismissal notifications.

4. Already in Korea, unions, Parliament, political parties and civil society have launched a movement to save Hydis, and this is spreading to become a movement throughout the nation. Taiwanese companies are Taiwan’s face to the global community, and are also ambassadors of their country. Robbed of our original technology, robbed of our work, robbed of the survival of our very families, this is harmful and is not right whatever border or country you are in.

5. We ask YFY to immediately meet with the Hydis workers who have traveled all the way to Taiwan to seek dialogue, and to engage in good faith negotiations.If our calls are thrown aside, then we have no choice but to organize a larger mission of Korean workers to Taiwan to struggle for this in the future.

To the good people of Taiwan, civil society and the free press here, we ask you for your concern and support, we humbly ask for your solidarity. Thank you.