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Subject: Korean strikers defy anti-labor regime 
   Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 18:29:29 -0600 
   From: Scott Marshall 
     To: worldlst@rednet.org (World List for Rednet)


**Korean strikers defy anti-labor regime**

(Reprinted from the January 18, 1997 issue of the People's
Weekly World. May be reprinted or reposted with PWW credit.
For subscription information see below)

By Fred Gaboury

Thousands of workers marched through cities in South Korea
on Jan. 14 and 15 as a 39-hour general strike paralyzed the
nation. Workers demanded repeal of recent labor legislation.
The legislation was passed in a secret, seven-minute session
of parliament where only members of the ruling party were
present.

The two-day shutdown came when leaders of the government-
sanctioned Korean Federation of Trade Unions agreed to
support the strike led by the illegal Korean Confederation
of Trade Unions. At press time Federation leaders had not
decided whether or not to support the strike beyond Jan. 15.
However, leaders of the Confederation have vowed to continue
the strike, which began on Dec. 26, until the legislation is
repealed.

Growing public support for the strikers has so far stayed
the hand of the government that has threatened arrest of
strike leaders. However, seven of the some 50 leaders facing
arrest have taken refuge inside the grounds of Seoul's Roman
Catholic Myongdonng Cathedral while 13 others have
barricaded themselves at their work sites in three cities.

"If authorities dare use law enforcement forces to crush
union leadership, we will launch full-blown general strikes
with all our resources," Kwon Young-gil, a former journalist
and president of the Confederation, said.

Thousands of workers guarded the cathedral in preparation
for a possible police raid. The red-brick building often
provided sanctuary for dissidents threatened during the many
years of military dictatorship.

International support for the strike has come from the World
Federation of Trade Unions, the International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions (ICTU), the Trade Union Advisory
Committee to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development.

In a communication addressed to Michel Hansenne, Director
General of the International Labor Organization, the World
Federation of Trade Unions branded stepped-up government
repression against the strike "gross violations of
international labor standards and basic human rights" and
urged the ILO "to effectively intervene and ensure the
government in Seoul withdraws the recent amendments to labor
laws, releases those arrested, cancels all prosecutions
against trade unionists and reaches a negotiated settlement
with the trade union centers which are leading the protest
actions."

Other labor groups include the AFL-CIO, the German DGB and
the British TUC. On Jan. 10 the AFL-CIO picketed the Korean
Embassy in Washington and delivered protest letters to the
labor attache. The ICFTU sent a delegation to Seoul on Jan.
10 and earlier filed a complaint against the Seoul
government with the International Labor Organization.

The showdown was prompted by enactment of a package of laws
making it easier for companies to lay off workers and hire
temporary employees and replacement workers during strikes.
The legislation gives the government authority to intervene
in labor disputes and to impose settlements. Another
provision maintains a ban on the Korean Confederation of
Trade Unions and gives additional powers to the secret
police.

The Confederation of Trade Unions represents more than
500,000 workers, most of them in heavy industry and the
state-run telecommunications giant Korea Telecom; while the
1.2 million-member Federation of Trade Unions is strongest
among miners, port and postal workers and workers in various
white collar and state industries

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Subject: Korea strike leaders defy government threats 
   Date: Thu, 09 Jan 1997 23:54:12 -0600 
  From:  Scott Marshall 
     To: worldlst@rednet.org (World List for Rednet)


**Korea strike leaders defy government threats**

(Reprinted from the January 11, 1997 issue of the People's
Weekly World. May be reprinted or reposted with PWW credit.
For subscription information see below)

By Fred Gaboury

At least 200,000 Korean workers employed in nearly 200
companies, resumed their general strike on Jan. 6 after a
five-day recess during the New Year.

The strike, led by the outlawed Korean Confederation of
Trade Unions (KCTU), began on Dec. 26 to protest action by
the Korean parliament eliminating the traditional life-time
guarantee of employment and allowing employers to replace
strikers. KCTU leaders vow that the strike will continue
until the law is repealed and are ignoring orders that they
appear before government prosecutors for questioning, a
possible first step toward their arrest.

Hua Yoon Gu, a deputy chairman of the KCTU, dismissed pleas
by Korean President Kim Young Sam to end the strike. Hua
said the government's promise on Jan 6 to soften the
legislation and improve welfare benefits for the unemployed
"lacked content and didn't show any vision ... He didn't
offer any methods for settling the strike so the strike will
go on."

While Kim made no proposals for ending the strike, he
pointedly refrained from any threat to use force or jail
union leaders to break the strike. According to the New York
Times, Kim's silence on this question is because the
strikers are thought to enjoy "some public support." Other
observers report that the arrest of union leaders will "in
all probability, strengthen the resolve of the strikers." In
1993, a thousand riot police stormed the Hyundai factory to
break a strike and arrested 60 workers.

At its height on Dec. 27, nearly 275,000 workers, including
members of the rival government-recognized Korean Federation
of Trade Unions (KFTU), had joined the strike. Although the
KFTU did not call on its members to join the strike when it
resumed, its leaders announced that the KFTU would join the
strike if the government does not act to repeal the new laws
which are scheduled to take effect on March 1.

The KCTU represents about 500,000 union members while the
larger - and less militant - KFTU claims a membership of
approximately 1.2 million. Analysts estimates that the value
of lost production due to the strike had already exceeded a
half billion dollars by Jan. 7.

Trade union organizations in other countries have responded
with solidarity acts and statements. AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney called upon President Kim to veto the legislation
while the World Federation of Trade Unions called upon
"trade unions in all countries to express active solidarity
with the working people and their trade union
organizations." by demanding a repeal of all the legislation
in question, to grant immediate legal status to the KCTU and
to cease all prosecution of union leaders and activists.
(See complete text of AFL-CIO statement page 6.)

When it was accepted into the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Korea agreed to
bring its 43-year-old labor code into compliance with
standards of the International Labor organization that
guarantee freedom of association and the right to collective
bargaining. In an earlier version of the legislation the
KCTU would have been legalized on March 1, but that has now
been postponed for three years.

On Jan. 6 nearly 20,000 workers and student sympathizers
rallied in Seoul demanding Kim's ouster and repeal of the
new laws. Although riot police were on the scene, no arrests
were made


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Subject: AFL-CIO's Sweeney backs general strike in Korea 
   Date: Thu, 09 Jan 1997 23:54:24 -0600 
  From:  Scott Marshall 
     To: worldlst@rednet.org (World List for Rednet)


**AFL-CIO's Sweeney backs general strike in Korea**

(Reprinted from the January 11, 1997 issue of the People's
Weekly World. May be reprinted or reposted with PWW credit.
For subscription information see below)

On Dec. 27 the AFL-CIO issued a statement expressing its
"solidarity with Korean workers as they bravely confront the
assault on their basic, internationally-recognized worker
rights."

The statement, signed by AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney,
called upon South Korea's President Kim Young Sam to veto
recently passed legislation and to take steps to bring key
elements of Korean labor law into compliance with ILO
standards of freedom of association.

The full text of Sweeney's statement follows:

Today, the AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with Korean workers
as they bravely confront the assault on their basic
internationally-recognized worker rights.

On Dec. 26 the ruling New Korea Party, using completely
undemocratic methods reminiscent of Korea's former military
government, adopted a new labor law which turns back the
clock on democratic reform and fundamentally undermines
worker's rights.

In seeking to justify its outrageous actions, Korea's
political leaders assert that the changes were needed to
bring the country's labor laws in line with global labor
practices, including those in Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. This is a
cynical and transparent attempt by the Korean government to
deceive the world about its "solemn commitment" to reform
its labor code.

By taking this action Korea has openly demonstrated its
contempt for OECD member countries which accepted in good
faith Korea's commitment to bring its labor laws into
conformity with the standards of the International Labor
Organization, including freedom of association and
collective bargaining. Furthermore, the undemocratic methods
used by the government and ruling party to achieve their
objectives are an affront to the democratic sensibilities of
all workers.

We strongly urge the Korean president to veto this poorly
considered piece of legislation which neither upholds
international standards nor honors Korea's work force.

We call on the Korean government to respect its
international responsibilities, along with its solemn
commitment to the OECD, and bring key elements of its labor
law into compliance with ILO standards on freedom of
association through democratic means and with full
participation of Korea's working men and women

          IN response to a call by the
       KOREAN CONFEDERATION of TRADE UNIONS

     There will be D E M O N S T R A T I O N S
     In * LOS ANGELES * and * SAN FRANCISCO *

       * F R I D A Y at N O O N * (Jan. 10)

        in * S O L I D A R I T Y * with the
* G E N E R A L  S T R I K E * in S O U T H  K O R E A.

LOS ANGELES:
Korean Consulate General
3243 Wilshire Blvd. (NW Corner Of Wilshire & Vermont)
Info: Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates
Tae Hui Kim (213)738-9050

SAN FRANCISCO:
Korean Consulate
3500 Clay St. (NW Corner Of Clay And Laurel Near Presidio)
Info: Labor Video Project (415)282-1908
Email: Lvpsf@labornet.org

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**'The world is our picket line' - Internet solidarity**

(Reprinted from the March 29, 1997 issue of the People's
Weekly World. May be reprinted or reposted with PWW credit.
For subscription information see below)

By Jagdish Parikh and PK Murphy

Recent - and outlawed - general strikes by Korean workers
reaffirm that they stand in the forefront of the Asian
trade union movement. But beyond that, the strikers'
breakthroughs in reaching supporters abroad opens up new
possibilities for the labor movement in Asia, indeed, for
labor worldwide.

These breakthroughs are thanks to computer communications
put out by or on behalf of the Korean Confederation of
Trade Unions, a body with no legal status. The KCTU is not
alone in using the Web. The locked-out Liverpool dockers
have for months been mobilizing support online.
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and
General Workers (ICEM) successfully used the Internet for
their campaign against Firestone, a multinational company.

What is distinct about the Korean situation, however, is
that the strikes have become one of the best covered labor
struggles in Asia, although English is not commonly used in
Korea, even among trade unionists. The KCTU distributed its
strike bulletins almost instantly in English to supporters
abroad.

Beginning with electronic mail to hundreds of supporters
thousands of miles away and culminating in pages on the
World Wide Web, the KCTU called for and got solidarity from
trade unionists and their allies far beyond Korea's
borders. Some unions and individuals set up Web pages or
links to Web pages that were covering events as they
unfolded in Korea.

Korean strikers and their supporters formed a
Telecommunication Taskgroup for the General Strike (TTGS)
to mount a campaign on the electronic network. TTGS Web
pages encouraged users to post solidarity messages online,
let them read support messages to the KCTU and let them
find out who else was reading the pages. Such Web page
design illustrates how the medium can foster transparency
and encourage participation by supporters, thereby bringing
greater democracy to the ways we wage solidarity campaigns.

The KCTU's use of computer communications, however, did not
spring up overnight. The more militant sectors of the union
movement and of the student movement had begun to explore
these means as far back as 10 years ago. Some within the
Korean labor movement started to experiment with computer
communications as far back as 1987.

As impressive as the KCTU's use of computer communications
is, more could be done to make such communication more
effective in the struggles that await us. This is all the
more necessary if we wish to reach out to all those around
the world who don't have full access to the Internet but
whose support and solidarity is crucial.

It remains, however, that without computer communications,
some - perhaps many - supporters outside of Korea likely
wouldn't have known enough about the struggle in time to
offer solidarity.

Those who have access to electronic mail may want to use
the contacts noted here to publicize their struggles as
well as to stay in touch with labor struggles worldwide.

Labr.Asia, an online conference hosted by the Association
for Progressive Communications (APC), offers extensive and
regular coverage of the Korean struggle and of labor
movement in Asia. For more information, send your e-mail
to: jagdish@labornet.apc.org.

Labor-L is a moderated mailing list run out of Toronto.
Though labor issues in the U.S. and Canada predominate, the
list also frequently posts news of labour and related
struggles from around the world. For more information, 
e-mail lanfran@yorku.ca.