Daewoo workers and management talk to government

A meeting between workers and management of troubled auto-maker Daewoo Motor Polska Lublin, organized under the auspices of the Labor Ministry, has ended with both sides refusing to comment. According to the Ministry press office, these were merely preliminary talks and therefore it is difficult to talk about specific results or resolutions. Nonetheless, reliable sources say the talks tabled a proposal by Daewoo to cajole the government into aiding the company to raise $50 million needed to finalize an ambitious project to begin producing a new-model delivery van at the Lublin plant, a crucial investment since it would guarantee an estimated 1,200 jobs. In related news, labor unions from Warsaw's Daewoo-FSO plant, which begins a three-week shutdown today, are to meet Labor Ministry officials to discuss how the latter wishes to carry out its duty as the legal overseer of Daewoo contracts on behalf of the Polish government. The union representatives will also ask the government to help Daewoo acquire $150 million for the planned production of engines to for its Matiz model. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B3)