CINA

본문

SsangYong Strike: It's (Class) War!

"There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class,

that’s making war, and we’re winning.” (Warren E. Buffet)

Well, to cut a long story short: While thousands of riot cops, "security guards" (i.e. mobsters/organized thugs, hired by the SsangYong Motor[SYM] management/in the pics: the black dressed with the white helmets) and incited strikebreakers(in the pics: with the blue headbands), supported by water cannons, police helicopters etc., turned the occupied (by 900 strikers) SYM plant in Pyeongtaek into a war zone for more than 32 hours (between Friday afternoon and last night), the plan to break the resistance failed - once again!

During the repeated attacks - the mobsters, but also the strikebreakers were armed with steel pipes, "gasoline bombs" etc. - at least 30 strikers were injured. At the same time (y'day evening/night) a candlelight rally by relatives of the striking workers and many supporters was also attacked by hundreds of riot cops and mobsters. Dozens of protesters were arrested!

But finally the strikebreakers, according to SYM officials, gave up "their" plan to enter the occupied plant - to avoid further losses.

Today, during a press conference held in the occupied plant, "the union's leaders vowed to work with civic groups and labor organizations to maintain their strike and try to save the company from going bankrupt", according to Yonhap(*).

Following some impressions from the "war zone"(6.26~27):

* Today's (bourgeois) Korea Times reported following:

Union Vows to Continue Fight; Joins Forces With K.M.U.

Striking workers at Ssangyong Motor.. said they will continue to occupy the factory in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul, after clashes with management and fellow employees which led to several injuries.

The workers’ union filed a complaint on Sunday with police against the automaker’s two court-appointed representatives and security guards for a violation of the law governing the latter.

At a press briefing at the plant, the union said, "Security workers hired by the company wielded steel pipes, fire extinguishers and clubs, injuring about 30 union members. They were not supposed to use violence. It constitutes a violation of the security guard law," it said.

The union said it will continue its fight to protect the jobs of workers and join forces with civic groups and other labor organizations to maintain the strike and save the company from going bankrupt.

Ssangyong won bankruptcy protection from a court in February and plans to lay off 36 percent of its workforce as part of restructuring efforts to stay afloat and avoid liquidation. In response, union laborers have occupied the plant since May 22 to protest a massive job-cut plan. About 800 remain inside the troubled plant.

Several injuries, with some victims taken by ambulance to hospitals, were incurred Friday. One clash involved about 900 people, some of whom used clubs and fire bombs. After the outbreak, 3,000 Ssangyong employees and management pulled out of the plant.

The labor union claimed the withdrawal of executives and employees from the facility Saturday night was part of a "ploy" to take definitive steps to close down the carmaker.

Management maintained a tense 32-hour standoff with the union inside the plant. Ssangyong managers said they did not want any violence, but warned that unless the union accepted a proposal issued on Friday, Ssangyong would have no choice but to close its doors.

"If the union continues to strike, the company will go bankrupt and 4,000 workers will lose their jobs," the company said.

However, the Korean Metal Workers Union, a unit of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, said tens of thousands of its members will gather at the Ssangyong Motor plant Monday in support of the automaker union’s strike. The metal workers union is also starting a general strike on July 1.

Related reports by:
☞ KCTU
☞ OhmyNews
☞ VoP

More reports/documentaries here!