Daewoo union protests GM takeover

SEOUL, South Korea — Five union representatives left for the United States on Friday to protest General Motors Corp.'s bid to take over South Korea's Daewoo Motor Co.

The U.S. auto giant submitted a proposal Wednesday to take over Daewoo Motor, setting the stage for negotiations on the sale of South Korea's third-largest carmaker.

The union delegation will demonstrate with American unionists outside GM headquarters in Detroit starting Monday, said labor spokesman Yu Jang-hyun.

The delegation includes two Daewoo Motor workers and three other members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, South Korea's second-largest labor group.

The visit comes at the invitation of the United Auto Workers, an umbrella labor group that says it has 750,000 members in the United States and Canada.

The delegation also plans to protest next Tuesday when GM shareholders meet.

Takeover talks are expected to begin next week.

For decades, labor groups have fiercely resisted the idea of selling key businesses to foreign investors. Daewoo's labor union, which staged violent protests in recent months, fears a takeover will lead to mass layoffs.

Daewoo was put under court receivership in November.

GM entered negotiations to acquire Daewoo in September. Daewoo Motor's court-appointed management laid off one-third of the company's 16,000 workers early this year.