CINA

본문

Korea Times wrote following about the Anti-FTA struggle in the coming weeks and today's "General Strike" by KCTU:

Police Alert Over FTA Demonstration
 

Protesters against a free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the United States are planning to bring in hundreds of chartered buses to form a blockade in downtown Seoul during an upcoming demonstration.

``Anti-FTA activists comprised of farmers, laborers and unionized teachers will participate in three protests planned for Nov. 22, Nov. 29 and Dec. 6,’’ a source close to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said on Tuesday.

He said, ``Their plan is to have at least one thousand buses park in the middle of Seoul to bring traffic in the city to a standstill.’’

According to other union officials, tens of thousands of farmers across the country are scheduled to arrive in central Seoul in rented buses to join the anti-FTA protest. They said that the bus-blockade will be held on one of the three days. The farmers also plan to stage rallies in their regional strongholds during the rest two days.

``Their behind-the-scenes plan, prepared over the past few months, is aimed at pressing the Roh Moo-hyun administration to drop its policy to sign a free trade deal with Washington,’’ said the source.

He said he believes that Chong Wa Dae has already obtained information about their plan and police will certainly hamper the mass bus-parking around Kwanghwamun and City Hall.

While a KCTU spokesperson declined to unveil the joint union’s strategy, sources forecast the scale of the protest to be massive enough to rival the ``June Protest’’ against the then-military dictatorship in 1987.(!!!)

As a warning to the government, the union will stage a preliminary demonstration on Nov. 15.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200611/kt2006111417232468040.htm

Also about today's "General Strike" Korea Herald published this article:

Labor group to strike over bills 
 
 
A radical labor group will go on strike today in protest of government-led labor reform bills which it claims would weaken the rights of workers.
 

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the nation's two umbrella labor unions, said some 150,000 members will participate in the four-hour walkout from 3 p.m.
 

It is demanding the government scrap the bills and draw up laws to secure the rights of temporary workers.
 

"Unless the government and political parties give us proper answers by Nov. 20, we will go on an indefinite strike from Nov. 22 as planned," said Woo Mun-sook, the KCTU spokeswoman.
 

On Sept. 11, representatives from labor unions, employers and the government struck an agreement on a package of labor bills without the participation of the KCTU.
 

Its moderate rival, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, represented the labor side at the National Tripartite Commission negotiations.
 

The breakthrough came as the government accepted the FKTU's proposal to delay two of the most controversial measures - dropping full-time union officers from company payrolls, and permitting multiple trade unions at a single company - for three years until the end of 2009.
 

Calling for immediate implementation of the multiple union system and insisting that the issue of paying full-time union officers should be left to individual companies, the KCTU threatened a mass protest.
 

But the group found difficulties in launching the strike due to a lack of support from its members.
 

With many members against a walkout, less than half of its members - just over 45 percent of its some 700,000 - participated in a vote that lasted from from Oct. 16 to Nov. 3. Amid a lack of participation even in the extended voting held through Tuesday, the KCTU hurriedly decided on a one-day strike.
 

The KCTU also announced that its member taxi drivers' union will provide free rides for students to examination sites for the nation's major college entrance exams tomorrow. The labor group had received strong public criticism for staging a mass strike close to the exam date.

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/11/15/200611150009.asp

The semi-official news agency Yonhap reported already yesterday following:

S. Korean labor union to stage strikes on Wednesday

A leading South Korean umbrella labor group said Tuesday it would launch a partial strike(??) this week in protest of government-led labor reform bills and ongoing free trade talks with the United States.

Some 150,000 members from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) are expected to take part in a four-hour strike Wednesday, demanding the government work out appropriate measures by Monday, union officials said.

The union will stage larger-scale, indefinite strikes from Oct. 22 if the government doesn't abide by the union's demands, said Woo Moon-sook, a spokeswoman at the KCTU.

On Sunday, the militant union held a large-scale rally in downtown Seoul, but there were no reports of injuries, arrests or severe traffic congestion. In recent months, public anger has grown over various street protests, which often disrupt traffic in Seoul.

In September, the government agreed with management officials and another major trade union, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), to allow government-owned companies to hire temporary workers during a strike and permit multiple labor unions at a workplace.

The KCTU, which didn't attend the meeting, has opposed the tripartite agreement, saying it is a ploy to break up the labor movement and compromise workers' rights.

The KCTU is also strongly against ongoing Seoul-Washington talks on a free trade agreement, arguing the accord would threaten the livelihoods of many South Korean workers and farmers.

South Korea and the U.S. are set to hold the fifth round on Dec. 4-9 in the U.S. amid pressure for the sides to wrap up the negotiations by March.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20061114/610000000020061114155230E5.html

Voice of People about..

The KCTU's general strike 

And finally KCTU published following yesterday:

KCTU Launches a General Strike!  

PS:

Here 총파업소식(1114)  you can watch a summary (by KCTU TV) of last Sunday's(11.12) workers' rallies in Seoul.