General Motors’ South Korean unit said that it has reached a tentative wage deal with its labor union on Monday, meeting a key condition laid down by the US automaker to prevent it filing for bankruptcy for the loss-making operation, Reuters reported. The US automaker shocked South Korea in February when it unveiled a major restructuring plan for the unit, which involved shuttering one of its four plants in the country and voluntary redundancies for 2,600 workers. GM has sought wage concessions from the union as well as government funding and incentives to save its remaining three South Korean factories. The board of GM Korea delayed a decision to file for court-managed bankruptcy protection until Monday evening, after the automaker failed to reach a wage deal with its labor union in time to meet a Friday deadline. The agreement reached by GM and its union after 14 rounds of negotiations calls for freezing wages and canceling bonuses this year and cutting some benefits. GM will allocate production of new models of sport-utility vehicles to local factories to stabilize their operations.
