LG Caltex workers end strike
AFP, Seoul
Workers at LG Caltex Oil Corp., South Korea's leading oil refiner, ended their their three-week-old strike Friday and prepared to return to work. The announcement came an hour before the expiry of a 5:00 pm (0800 GMT) deadline Friday after which management said strikers would be dismissed. "I hereby declare that we end the strike and return to work in respect of the high public concerns over the confrontation between the union and management," union president Kim Jung-Gon said at a press conference. He said the union had asked management to give the workers until Monday to return to work at the refinery in the southern port of Yeosu and also urged the firm to drop criminal charges and damages suits against union leaders. LG Caltex management, however, refused to drop lawsuits against Kim and 64 other union representatives, accused of obstructing business and incurring millions of dollars in damages through the wildcat strike. The press conference took place at Dangook University in Seoul where hundreds of LG Caltex workers have been holed up over the past three days.
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