27개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
OCCUPATION!
S.Korean Irregular Workers are Striking Back!
The S.K. semi-official newsagency Yonhap reported just two hours ago: "Thousands of unionized workers at the E.Land Group, a major fashion and retail outlet, continued to walk off their jobs for more than a week Sunday, demanding that the company cancel its decision to lay off more than 900 irregular workers.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a major umbrella labor group to which the E.Land union belongs, threw its support behind the striking workers, saying that its leadership will join in the protest."
For more details read this (in S.K. bourgeois newspapers):
☞ Strikers occupy E-Land outlets (JoongAng Ilbo, 7.08)
☞ Non-Regular Workers Occupy E-Land Shops (K. Times)
☞ E-Land unionists on strike against layoff
S.K. independent reports:
☞ 이랜드 '전국 타격 투쟁'으로 20여개 매장 문 닫아 (VoP, 7.08)
☞ 이랜드 일반노조, 홈에버 월드컵점 무기한 점거 농성!! (P. Times, 7.01)
☞ 이랜드 노동자와 연대하는 방식!! (P. Times, pics/videos)
MTU about their solidarity activities with the strike:
Documentaries/videos by "Hong Gil-dong in the Forest" (숲속홍길동):
☞ "점거농성투쟁 2~8일차 상황" - 7.1~7.7 홈에버 상암동 매장
More about the background of the struggle:
Korean commercial workers fight mass dismissals at
ex-Carrefour as new store owners violate takeover agreement (Union Network International, 7.06)
At a press conference in Seoul last Tuesday, trade union confederation KCFTU came out in strong support for the victimised workers in the former Carrefour stores, taken over by Korean retailer E.Land. If they are not reinstated by the retail chain's management, there will be additional store occupations and a call for consumer boycott.
Hundreds of former Carrefour workers have been dismissed by Korean retailer E.Land in a move to avoid giving them permanent employment contracts. The UNI Commerce affiliated trade union KPSU believes that the number of workers put on the street could very soon rise to more than a thousand, and has initiated strong action to stop the dismissals. Reportedly, arrest warrants have already been issued against key worker representatives in what used to be Carrefour Korea.
When the Korean government recently pushed through a new legislation on the status of non-regular workers, unions voiced strong concerns about the risks that employers would misuse it to the detriment of these particularly disadvantaged people. These concerns are now proving to be true as leading retailer E.Land has started a move of mass dismissals of its part-time, temporary and other so-called non-regular workers. Clearly, the company wants to avoid making their contracts permanent, such as the new law requires when they have completed two years of service.
Korea already has one of the highest percentages of non-regular workers in its labour force, and unions consider that the new legislation could continue to worsen the situation. There are clear signs that leading retailers will outsource an important part of their functions, including such groups as supermarket cashiers and other store workers. The labour force would then be provided by outside operators, including companies set up by the retailers themselves to stop the workforce from unionisisng, and to circumvent collective agreements and other regulations.
E.Land's brutal treatment of its workers is an extreme example of what can become a general practice unless the unions can stop this, and unless the government respects its obligations to ensure that core International Labour Conventions on workers' rights are respected. Korea was hung out very seriously in the lastest ILO report on violations of freedom of association, and their unwillingness to intervene against E.Land will only make matters worse.
The E.Land workers and their trade union are now carrying out a desperate struggle to save the jobs and livelihoods that have been put at risk by a cynical management. Ironically enough, the E.Land founder and his management team characterise themselves as new-born Christians and have tried to define their corporate culture in this way. Apparently, their knowledge of the religious ethics that they confess themselves to are rather shallow.
In the meantime, so-called in-store picketing started in one of the E.Land hypermarkets last Tuesday, with workers blocking all entry. To support the struggle of these disadvantaged workers, most of whom are women with family responsibilities, Korean trade union confederation KCTU has now stepped in. If a solution is not found fast, the store occupations will spread to the whole E.Land network, with support of other unions as well. Also a consumer boycott is in the makings. In anticipation of this, one may expect a stronghand response from the company and from the government - although government authorities have admitted that E.Land's dismissals are indeed illegal. But an intervention in favour of the workers has not been seen..
http://www.union-network.org/unicommerce.nsf/0/25C1A95252528A07C12573100033436D?OpenDocument
KCTU sources:
☞ 뉴코아노동조합
More pics you can see here (다함께):
☞ [6월 28일] 이랜드일반노동조합 투쟁 승리를 위한 문화제
1. S. Korean Social Forum. Migrant workers' contribution, 7.08 (Sun.):
☞ Migrant Workers Speak about their Lives and Struggle in S.K.
2. (Samsung)Everland:
Just few days ago MTU published following leaflet to inform and mobilize:
Protect the human and labor rights of Everland
E-6 Visa Performance Workers!
Usually, if migrant workers leave their place of employment to find another job they become 'illegal'; even in the case of unescapable circumstances such as a plant closure, if they cannot find new work within two months they become 'illegal.' Once a migrant worker becomes 'illegal' his/her name is put on a list as a target of crackdown and detention; in one instant his/her right to life is destroyed. As such, migrant workers live every moment with the government and their employer's noose tied around their necks. Among these, female migrant workers face yet another layer of exploitation and oppression. Female migrant workers who come to South Korea on E-6 visas to work at performance and entertainment jobs are in a particularly severe situation. The case of E-6 workers at Everland Theme Park, which has recently become an important social issue, demonstrates clearly the overall plight of E-6 migrant workers.
Hellish Slavery-like Work Environment
Performance workers at Everland are forced to dye their hair, put on make up and move around in high-heels, blamed if they trip or fall down. Including supposed 'practice time' they must labor strenuously forcing smiles and laughter for 13-14 hours. Recently workers who are short the money for plane tickets have part of their pitiful wage, which does not even reach 700,000 per month, subtracted. If a worker severely injures her back due to the difficult work and needs treatment, she immediately faces deportation; if a worker's makeup is not perfect, if customers' response is unsatisfactory, if she takes a break outside of designated rest areas or makes a mistake during a performance, her employer deducts 100,00 won from her monthly wage. This is not merely labor exploitation; it is a form of mental slavery, gender oppression and obliteration of human rights that forces workers to live a life of slavery on the grounds of Everland Theme Park.
The Problems of E-6 Workers are the Problems of Women Workers
Without even mentioning the question of migration and settlement, the reality of women workers is one of continuous sexual exploitation and/or everyday discrimination and violence that is often sexual in nature. The case of Everland performance workers who do not even have protected rights to receive a minimum wage and proper rest time, who are expelled if they become sick or injured, is a representative example of some of the most brutal conditions facing women workers One of the particular characteristics of female migrant workers working on E-6 visas is that the majority must renew their residences every six months and are only allowed to stay for one year. This system makes them all the more subordinate to the will of their employers. Because E-6 workers are supposedly performers or artists, their labor is not even recognized as such. They therefore receive no protection under Korean labor law; employers determine work hours and wages at their will. Because they do service work, their fate turns on the response of customers making it exceedingly difficult for them to stand up for even the slightest of their rights. The many female migrant workers who simply cannot stand these conditions and leave their workplaces have very limited options and are often lured into the sex industry. However,Despite this wretched situation, there is a worker who has had the courage to fight believing she is entitled to workplace accident compensation. One female worker suffered from a sprained wrist and ruptured disk in her back due to wretched work conditions. She informed her employer she wishes to apply for workplace accident compensation and stood up to give a vivid testimony about all the forms of exploitation she has experienced. This worker's courage provides a starting point from which it will be possible to demand basic rights to health and safe work. Everland responded with its own press conference, erased the criticizable content from its contract documents, and has been using tactics to stop other workers from talking. However the reality of the slavery-like contracts has already been made completely public.
Struggle!
This issue arises from the basic structure of oppression and violation of migrant workers' human rights and labor rights in South Korea. This struggle will not end with achieving workplace accident compensation. It cannot end until performance workers are recognized as workers and their employers provide a work environment consistent with the law, and a law is created specifically to protect these workers.
Right now a taskforce to protect E-6 workers human and labor rights is working to make known the human rights violations and exploitation of performance workers, beginning with those as Everland and is working with Everland workers to prepare a lawsuit and win special supervision from the Labor Ministry. We are also working not to miss this opportunity provided by this worker's courage by increasing education and exchange between performance workers in order to build a long term response. In order to avoid many workers being deported we need careful and persistent organizing. We need the support of migrant workers, women workers and all comrades in struggle. Please demonstrate your solidarity with statements, organizing and diverse activities!
Demands to Everland:
Stop your deceitful actions!
Do not stop with just compensation, fully reform the work conditions at Everland!
We will not be silent if you try to deport workers secretly!
We declare a full-out struggle!
Demands to the Ministry of Justice:
Recognize performance/arts migrant workers for what they are, workers!
The E-6 Visa system and Employer Permit System must be abolished immediately!
Implement a Work Permit System that will actually protect the human rights and labor rights of migrant workers!
Win minimum wage and workplace accident insurance, stop unjust penalties and firing, win the three basic labor rights! End all discrimination and exploitation of migrant workers! Lets Unit!
Gyeonggi(-do) Migrants' Taskforce
The same in Korean:
☞ 에버랜드 E-6 공연 노동자들의 노동권과 인권을 보장하라!
Related:
One month ago the G8-"summit" was held in the (north-east) German Baltic Sea resort Heiligendamm (I published several contributions about the issue..).
Here's now the (likeley?!!) last one: impressions written by an Irish anarchist activis (published in the Swiss rev. magazine der aufbau). He travelled to the protests against the G8. He reported on the actions that were taken and then on his arrest and mistreatment.
The Build-Up - 2nd June 2007 (Saturday)
We travelled to Rostock on one of the 30 buses going from Hamburg. When we arrived the city was awash with people and also a gargantuan police presence. We made our way to the starting point of the rally in which the anarchist block was due to march, the second rally being composed more so of NGOs and political parties. After an hour or so of boring speeches and the monotone gloom of David Rovics, the march set off.
A pretty impressive black bloc had formed at the rear-centre composed of AntiFa, anarchist groups and of course the Autonomous movement people. Black clad protesters are a much more eclectic bunch politically, this is worth remembering.
As the march weaved its way through the elegant city of Rostock, the Black Block seemed to swell considerably as it followed the sounds of the AntiFa sound system. My estimation is approximate, but I would guess it comprised of at least 6-7000 people. After an hour of marching and chanting, news filtered through that the other rally (which we were to meet at the Harbour) had been attacked by police using pepper spray, tear gas and of the course the ever-useful baton. Plumes of tear gas could be seen from afar and our march became agitated as it seemed the police had halted its progress at the front to prevent us reaching the Harbour and our fellow protesters. There were shouts to get into line among the black bloc as it seemed that we would have to fight our way through to the others.We were a tad anxious as the situation appeared to be deteriorating fast, but were bolstered by the apparent confidence and steel-eyed determination that surrounded us.
Soon, however,the march proceeded and the threat appeared to have abated. We made it to the harbour where the rumours of police violence were substantiated with injured demonstrators being attended to. The police then attempted to arrest people for covering their faces (this is an offence in Germany) and the crowd scattered somewhat into side streets as people fought back against the police repression.The scene escalated quickly as police snatch squads moved in at the sides of the black bloc with some force. However they were met with fearsome resistance, the like of which I have never before witnessed. Stones, bottles and other projectiles were used to give them a hostile welcome and hold them off as other protesters escaped to safety.It seemed as if police efforts to attack the march and arrest hundreds of anarchists and AntiFa had backfired as they were peppered from all sides by angry demonstrators and they had to beat a hasty retreat after a few minutes.
Rostock 6.02, German robo-cops in action..
This went on for quite some time around the harbour area and surrounding streets and can be seen and described better by pictures and video as I want to move on to the other events of the week.
We went back to camp Rostock (one of the three superb G8-specific camps) that evening and digested the days events. 100 arrested, many injured and 400 cops getting treatment (no sympathy there). It was now clear to us that the German police were well-armed, well-protected, well-trained and brutal when they chose to be.There had also emerged a tendency to attack the less militant areas of demonstrations, a tactic which backfired on them big-time both that day and the following day in the German press. It was now also clear to us that the militant groups involved in this G8 were more than a match for their state-sponsored nemeses, should the situation so merit.
3rd - 5th June (Sun. - Tue.)
On Sunday we attended an agriculture-reform march in Rostock. Again hugely well attended, the police did everything they could to incite the marchers.This pattern continued the following day at the Migrants-rights/Freedom-of-Movement rally using the same tactics as Sunday but with added severity. Following a successful march to an emigrant "processing centre" we departed to return to the city centre en bloc.The police constantly stopped the march, then let it proceed, then stopping it again and making demands regarding the clothing of the protesters. First no hoods (even though it was raining), then no hats, then no sunglasses. One protester took the initiative and stripped totally naked with an inscription on his back reading "I am a well behaved protester. " The fashion-related demands were clearly aimed at exposing the huge anarchist and black bloc presence to scrutiny, possibly because of Saturday's roasting. Very few complied with the outlandish demands, and eventually the march proceeded, moving just 1.5km in four hours! The demonstrators all but ignored the police attempts to incite them to militant resistance, everyone knowing that Wednesday (the opening day of the G8) was fast approaching and that our numbers and energy would be better spent then.
We moved to Camp Reddilich that evening as it was more suited to our political and organisational methods.Tuesday was spent moving from meeting to meeting, developing a clear and effective plan for the blockades due to begin in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Affinity groups were formed and ours nestled itself into the "English-speaking bloc" which was comprised of 60-70 people from England, Scandinavia, Ireland and Germany. After a long, long day, our last meeting concluded at 1.30am and we hit the hay with an early start and the G8 to block only a few hours away.
At about 3.30am,the camp siren sounded,along with youthful voices screaming that the camp was being attacked by police.The 6-7000 residents arose to a vision of frenzied activity. Myself and others gathered at our barrio's still-lit campfire and exchanged stories of a similar event in Stirling (G8 2005) which had amounted to nothing.This turned out to be the case again here,with the police merely increasing their numbers 500m from the front gate on a public highway.
A lesson yet again to be learnt for future such events.
The Blockades
At 10am, a bleary-eyed bunch of us departed through the rapeseed fields at the rear of the camp area (which provided excellent cover). We had supplies sufficient to last us for 36 hours in the event of a long-haul outdoor stay. Our plan was to breach the Red Zone through the many forests of the region and create barricades on as many roads as we could. Each affinity group (5-15 people) nominated a delegate to the "spokes council" which would meet at strategic points on our route to maintain the decentralised democratic structure of the group. After about 2 hours of trekking through thick forest and dense rapeseed fields we reached our first road-target. Scouts went ahead to scope it out and reported back to the spokes-council delegates who had been chatting with their affinity groups. The signal was given and we ran onto the road,directing traffic away at either end and setting up two impressive barricades in the centre using logs, branches, dead trees and other natural supplies form the forest floor. With this complete we disappeared into the forest on the other side and began making our way to the next target using compasses and maps.
This was the group's strategy, to build barricades up and down a road and then disappear as quickly as possible to avoid police detection of our whereabouts from land-level and from above (where helicopters roamed the sky continuously). We continued in this manner for several hours pushing further and further into the Red Zone and avoiding police detection using natures cover and a sequence of call-out codes.
One larger road was blockaded with the assistance of the "Tool Team" who felled huge Sycamore trees (a pest species apparently) from the banks, making particularly impassable barricades. As we walked further down this road to build another, 3 BMW police cars (upper-echelon police types) sped by and people initially panicked. However, seconds later, they were calmed and we built a second barricade, trapping the 3 cars in between the two barriers. This was to prevent them from following us but we knew now that our invisibility had been compromised and that we had to tread more carefully from here on in.
At about 4pm, we came across a tourist map at the edge of one of the forests with a "You are Here" guide which had been conveniently altered to indicate police/G8 details by a past passer-by.We were now at the village of Wittingbeck with no further forest cover available for 2km. A spokes council was held after which about a third of the group decided to turn back and the rest to continue towards Heilegendamm. It had been an hour and a half since we had encountered the BMW police cars and no adverse attention had come our way since then, possibly due to the obtuse and unpredictable direction of our chosen route. On we went, passing slowly through the village, attempting to remain as inconspicuous as possible.Suddenly a number of police vans appeared to our right up an alley-way. They backed up immediately upon seeing us,seemingly afraid. We seized the initiative building a barricade of concrete blocks, wooden planks and bricks in front of them, trapping them up the alleyway. Some people fled once they saw the vans and our numbers had again been reduced, now down to about 30.
We were then "bolstered" by the appearance form a side street of a group of black-clad individuals armed with iron bars and bags of bricks.Our attempts to remain inconspicuous in the bustling village had clearly been compromised and seconds later, a PLATOON of police, presumably alerted by their now-trapped colleagues, appeared around the corner and it was all over. As the vans sped toward us, our black-clad comrades who I think but am not 100 percent sure were Greek hurled bricks and stones and swung their iron bars at the windows of the vans as they passed. Most of the group thought it better to flee into an adjoining field (with large agitated horses galloping crazily around).The numbers of police that appeared were overwhelming.
Myself and two comrades tried to remain calm and continued walking as if nothing had happened (we were dressed in a"non-threatening" way at this point). However, this approach proved to be to no avail as we were stopped, screamed at in German, pushed around, cuffed and taken away.The same fate befell our comrades in the field minutes later as they were surrounded on all sides by hundreds of riot police
The Imprisonment
Initially handcuffed, we were then constrained using cable-ties as more and more arrests were made and the police were running low on the luxury version. We were made sit on the grass for almost an hour in the baking heat with no communication with anyone permitted. At 6pm we were loaded onto several police jail buses and pushed around forcefully if any delay resulted as a result of instructions given only in German. We were transported to the temporary detention centre (DC) in Rostock, a journey of 25 km or so, which curiously took two hours! Slacking off, methinks!
Upon our arrival we were "processed" (personal data taken) and then one by one placed in large white cages (5m x 3m x 3m), with open sides but a white sheet shielding one cage from the next to prevent easy communication among inmates (who I shall here after refer to as "comrades"). More and more comrades arrived until each cage had about 15 inhabitants. The cages were empty of supplies with nothing to sleep on except the concrete floor. Introductions were exchanged and the atmosphere was comradely, if very fatigued.
The cages were gender-divided with the female cages protesting the loudest and most continuously for basic rights - food, water, telephone call, lawyer and doctor. These protests were almost completely ignored with food (one slice of bread) and water being the only ones granted,and even at this, only occasionally.
Wednesday Night (6.06)
At 11pm, I was brought to see the "Richter" (police judge) who following a review of the circumstances of my arrest stated that I would be in custody until Saturday at noon. No private space was given to my lawyer and I to speak, a clear breach of the law and my basic riights. A phone call, etc. had still not been granted. The Richter guaranteed in front of my lawyer and translator that I would get my phone call immediately. This promise did not materialise for a further 15 hours.
During the night, any attempts at sleep were made even more impossible by the constant and meaningless moving of comrades from one cage to the next. I, myself, was moved three times and this was typical. Each of the three times I had all but breached the discomfort barrier and had dropped off to sleep.Mental exhaustion was clearly what they were going for, its purpose clearly to weaken comrades physically and mentally for the upcoming interrogations etc. I continuously demanded my phone call, demands which were ignored with impudence. Screams of the females were audible at various times from various points and levels in the building, an unnerving feeling to say the least.
At 5.30am, I was called from my cage. Weary of being incessantly moved and hearing stories of others having been fingerprinted, I refused to move unless the reason for so doing was given. No reason was forthcoming and after my refusal and my comrades solidarity the opfficer left and promptly returned with two armed cops who removed me forcefully. The law in Germany states that you are not obliged to give fingerprints but that you are not permitted to resist with force if an attempt is made to extract them from you.Three men held me as one cop pressed each of my fingers onto the prints sheet. A thoroughly disempowering experience and one that would have been much more traumatic had I not been half-asleep the entire time from exhaustion.
Thursday (6.07)
The hours dragged by, still with no telephone call granted and the heat in the cages grew immense. At about 2.30pm, myself and a comrade from Brighton upon receiving information from an English Lawyer (via a mobile we had smuggled in) demanded that we see a high-ranking officer. We had been informed that our detention was illegal as non-German, E.U citizens and that after our data had been taken and confirmed, we were entitled to release. Once this was communicated to him, we were immediately granted our phone calls and I phoned the legal team and the Irish consulate, explaining the legal situation and conditions to both. The consulate agreed to help, however I would like to emphasise that despite their kind words on the phone to me, they were NO help at all and merely sent me a list of English-speaking lawyers in Germany, despite the fact I had told them clearly I had a competent lawyer. Following the phone call, I returned to my cage but within 5 minutes was on the move again, this time to court in Rostock to hear the appeal I had lodged the previous night to the decision of the Richter.
The four "reasons", (not even charges against me) for keeping me in effective preventative custody were:
1. Being in a group with others dressed in black
2. Being in a group with others wearing masks. (I was not wearing a face-mask at this point nor was I dressed in black,only a black t-shirt)
3. Being present where a fence was damaged (I had not crossed the fence due to the lack of escape opportunities and the crazed horses)
4. Being a danger to the state of Germany
Thus, the judge(Richter) had deemed that to prevent me committing these or further offences in the future 4 days, I had to be detained until Saturday
I was brought to the Rostock city court building where we waited outside in the hallway for quite some time. During this time, the accompanying police officers attempted to pry information from me. I told them I would not answer any questions without my lawyer present and following that replied "Keine Commenta" to every question. They used predictable techniques such as telling me 'You willing be staying in Germany now for 10 months" and then saying that IF I just told them what happened they might be able to help me to avoid this. This continued for about 30 minutes until the judges appeared in the corridor at which point the police fell silent.
I was given 10 minutes to discuss matters with my young lawyer. We then made our case to the hearing about why my detention until Saturday was illegal. Together we described accurately the conditions, the fact that none of the charges can be evidenced in any way by the police and also that no telephone call was granted for 15 hours despite the Richter's guarantee that it would in front of both lawyer and translator (who affirmed this promise in court). The court seemed impressed and the police lawyer said very little throughout except that police resources were under much strain. I felt quietly confident at this point. The court said they would retire for one hour to consider its decision and asked would I like to stay to hear it, to which of course I replied that I would. However the police insisted that I must return to the detention centre and that they would inform me when the court rang with the decision.
I suspected foul play immediately.
When I arrived back in the D.C I was placed in solitary confinement away from all the other comrades in a cell with four white walls, a toilet and nothing else. I heard nothing for about 6 hours except the occasional sobbing and sometimes hysterical screaming of one of the other comrades who had suffered the same fate as I.The white walls and boredom get to you after a while. At about 10pm, I was joined by a German comrade, who had also been in solitary and man,we were glad to see and talk to one another. It is indescribable how bored you get on your own and how priceless it is to have another human introduced to your environment, even after such a short while alone.
Following a long chat with each other, we drifted off to sleep on our concrete beds until we were rudely awoken at 3.30am. We were being transported to Butzau prison, over 100km and a world away and despite my protests (through German with the aid of my comrade) about receiving my court decision before I left, I was bundled into the back of a van and whisked away. We arrived at the prison at about 5am and were "processed" along with some German and French comrades. After processing we were led to our cells which were in complete disrepair with little obvious improvements since the prisons construction in 1835. However, thankfully, there was an actual bed, a luxury not to be found in Rostock and we slept like babies for hours and hours.
All day Friday was spent in the cell, with no time given for walkabout or fresh air. The wing we were in had been reserved for anti-G8 protesters only, to keep us away from the large fascist prison population, or rather them away from us. My cell comrade Gerome was released Friday evening along with some of the other Irish arrestees, but they had one more battle to face as a standoff between them and a local bunch of fascists which had gathered ensued before the police arrived to ensure their safe passage out of there.
After much sleeping and chatting with my French comrade Jeremie about everything under the sun that I could manage with my limited French and he with his similarly limited English, I was released at noon Saturday with Jeremie departing a few hours earlier. I was greeted by friendly lefties outside including my friend Sean who had gotten out the previous night, as well as by food, water and a car to get the fuck out of there.
I missed two flights out of Germany and ended up leaving on Monday.
It was all worth it. Fuck the G8!
Related:
The S.K. Gov't is Planning a New Wave of Massive Crackdown
MTU: UNITE, ORGANIZE AND RESIST!!
MTU (Migrants' Trade Union) proposal to all migrant workers' communities:
We are right now on the eve of the government's massive crackdown against (so-called "illegal") migrant workers planned for August 1.
As you will recall, in only a few months following the beginning of a similar crackdown at the end of 2003 seven migrant workers lost their lives.
We cannot allow a similar tradegy to occur during the upcoming crackdown. Therefore it is vital that we gather our strength and come together to discuss our plans for dealing with the crackdown that is now right before our eyes.
This is our proposal to each and every migrant worker community:
Please quickly call emergency meetings in each national community to discuss the best way to deal with the approaching crackdown.
We also want to make it possible for us to share these plans collectively. Therefore we are planning to make a space for all communities to come together to discuss our opinions and plans sometime before the middle or end of July.
Migrant workers, lets come together in unity to stop the government's crackdown!
2007. 6. 27.
Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants' Trade Union (MTU)
이주노조가 각국 이주노동자 공동체에게 공동체 모임 소집을 제안 드립니다.
현재 우리 이주노동자들은 8월 1일부터 시작되는 정부의 대대적인 단속 직전에 있습니다.
지난 2003년 말부터 단속이 시작되자 불과 몇 달 사이에 7명의 이주노동자가 목숨을 끊었습니다.
이번 정부의 단속 때 또 이와같은 비극일 일어나서는 안 됩니다. 그래서 우리는 지금 코 앞에 닥친 정부의 단속에 맞서 어떻게 대응해야 할 지 의견을 모으고 힘을 합해야 하는 상황입니다.
이에 각 국가 공동체들에게 제안드립니다.
신속히 국가별 긴급 모임이나 회의를 소집해 단속에 대처할 나름의 방안들을 논의해 주십시오.
그리고 그 결과를 함께 공유할 수 있길 바랍니다. 그래서 7월 중순 전에 이주노조는 모든 나라 공동체들과 함께 모여 의견을 모으는 자리를 만드려고 합니다.
우리 이주노동자들 모두가 함께 단결해 정부의 대대적인 단속을 막아냅시다!
2007. 6. 27.
서울경기인천 이주노동자 노동조합
Scandal!! Chinese Communist Party and government is threatening S. Korean entrepreneurs with "labour rights for Chinese workers", i.e. expropriation, deportation, mass executions etc.. At least with a new (of course communist) Culture Revolution!!!
The Roh administration - aka the so-called "south Korean 'government'" (KCNA) - is considering to call an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council because of the feared, no doubt already scheduled massive violations (by the Red Guards, the PLA, etc..) of the human rights against (the poor) S. Korean exploiters..
"Let's march for the New Labour Law!
And if they (S.K. capitalists) don't want to listen..(*)
Well, it seems that S. Korean capitalists, who are involved in the exploitation of the Chinese working class are going crazy since they'd to learn that the gov't in Beijing is planning to pass a new stronger labour law. Just read following article, published in Korea Times (7.02):
Firms Worry Over China’s Labor Law
An alarm is ringing for Korean firms operating in China after Beijing passed a stronger labor law aimed at protecting workers' right last week.
When the new law goes into effect in January 2008, it will reduce labor flexibility and increase operational risks for Korean firms while improving the basic rights of local workers, experts say.
The impact is expected to be heavier on small independent firms that account for 98 percent of Korean businesses operating in China, while conglomerates and other big firms are better prepared for the change.
``The Chinese government has passed the Contract Labor Law that has a heavy focus on workers' rights. There is a high possibility that labor costs will go up for foreign firms,'' said Kim Kyung-yong, a senior manager of the Asian team at the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), an interest group representing some 65,000 companies. ``Firms have to cope with the changes while they still have the time to do so.''
Kim said KITA has invited a Korean lawyer based in Beijing to give a presentation on the new labor law today in Seoul. More than 250 firms have enrolled for the conference despite the short notice, he said.
The new law passed the Chinese legislature with strong support from the public after a series of reports were published on poor working conditions and compensation at workplaces. Most foreign firms have welcomed the law, at least on the surface.
The law has some provisions that can be considered too rigid to the eyes of Korean employers, who generally anticipate lower wages and less stringent labor regulations in China than here.
For example, the law will ensure people who have worked more than 15 years or ones within five years of retirement will not be fired in any eventuality. Also, interns and other probationary workers must be paid more than 80 percent of regular wages.
Workers can get a lifetime contract from their employers when they complete two short-term contracts. It also gives greater power to labor unions for collective bargaining and the implementation of new employment regulations...
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2007/07/123_5790.html
* ..be ready to smash them!!"
Related:
☞ China's legislature approves new labor law (IHT, 6.29)
☞ China amends new labor law draft (Xinhua, 6.28)
Very bad and sad news for all 'lovers' of Farfur, the Palestinian Mickey Mouse clone, who fought 'every day and night' against the 'Jewish occupation' of the 'Palestinian homeland' (from the Lebanese border to the Red Sea, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranian!!), for the 'true Muslim belief', etc..
Last Friday "Farfur was martyred while defending his land," said Sara, the teen presenter in Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV. He was killed "by the killers of the children," she added.
But as all maryred mujahedeen he will depart directly to Paradise, according to the Muslim religion. And here (in Paradise) as a male martyr who fought the Jihad - once again according to Islam - he will get his 72 virgins.
But here, for my understanding, the big problem begins: WTFH the 72 virgins will do with Farfur (please remember he's a MOUSE/an animal)? I guess that even in paradise sexual "perversions" (like sex with animals..) are totally forbidden - simply said (during the time Muslims have to spend on earth such kind of sexual activities are punished by death sentence: stoning to death or "alternatively" chop into small pieces, etc.. , with a one-way ticket to HELL)..
☞ Hamas TV kills off Mickey Mouse double (Ynet/AP)
Meanwhile the "radical left", especially in the West is nearly complete quiet about the latest developments in Gaza, the "liberation from the Fatah occupation" (Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV). Except few political idiots (eeh~ sorry, but that's just the f.. reality!!). For example some Trotskyist groups like in UK the "Socialist" Worker: "The stunning military victory by the Palestinian Hamas movement.. was a strike against imperialism.."
☞ Hamas’s victory in Gaza is a blow to Bush’s plans
Or some hard-core "Stalinists" (eeh~ I know that's a struggle term of the class enemy^^!!) like the Anti-Imperialist Camp: "Gaza: popular vote implemented/Seizure of power by Hamas a step forward for the resistance.. We welcome the coming into power of Hamas.."
☞ Gaza: popular vote implemented
The Palestinian (former) "left" organisations, such as PFLP, DFLP until now published complete nothing about the recent developments in Gaza.
And in the last weeks, again and again, high ranking Hamas officials said that the "liberation of Gaza" is just the beginning for the liberation of the "entire occupied Palestine" (i.e. incl. the "zionist entity, the so-called Israel"). The final goal, according to him, is the creation of the "Unified Muslim Homeland Palestine".
Related articles etc, published in the last weeks:
☞ Interview With Hamas Co-funder Mahmoud Zahar (Der Spiegel, 6.22)
☞ 'Christians must accept Islamic rule' (Yedioth Ahronoth, 6.19)
☞ The death of the two-state solution (A. Times, 6.20)
☞ A Visit to Fatah's Torture Chamber (Der Spiegel, 6.21)
☞ The rise and rise of Hamas (A. Times, 6.30)
Today, Hong Kong(中華人民共和國香港特別行政區) will have been under Chinese "rule" for ten years. "Can the capitalist pearl (*) continue to shine under Communist Party rule?", the German (bourgeois!!!) magazine Der Spiegel asked.
Hong Kong Reinvents Itself, Yet Again (Der Spiegel, 6.29)
The red mailboxes with the image of the British crown were removed, the last batch of stamps with the likeness of Queen Elizabeth II was printed and 1,200 portraits of the monarch were removed from government offices. All evidence of the Queen had been removed by the time the final act began, exactly 10 years ago: Britain's farewell ceremony in Hong Kong, the colonial power's grandest goodbye.
July 1 marks the 10th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to China.
Many wept when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time. Chris Patten, the last British governor, who had introduced democracy at the last minute in Hong Kong after around 150 years of colonialism and who was disparaged in Beijing as a "whore" in return for the gesture, fought back his tears while his wife and their three daughters wept freely. Even Prince Charles, the guest of honor, pressed a handkerchief to his eyes as he boarded the royal yacht, the "Britannia," turning around to wave one last time.
It was shortly after midnight on July 1, 1997 when the representatives of the old order left Hong Kong, whose name means "fragrant harbor." The jewel of the Empire, with its $69 billion in foreign currency reserves, was handed over to the communist rulers of the People's Republic of China, the most sumptuous dowry since Cleopatra. The symbolism of the moment could hardly hide its historic significance, heralding the decline of an old world power and the rise of a new one.
Please read the full (very long: 6 parts) report here!
* Where at least 1 Million people (from 6.7 Million citizens)..
..are living in extreme poverty!!
More articles/reports about the "re-unification":
☞ Ten years after Hong Kong returned to Chinese control (Guardian)
☞ Hong Kong's democrats worry.. (IHT)
☞ Thriving Hong Kong capitalism in Communist embrace
HK bourgeois media:
☞ 十年.. (明報 special)
☞ 十年.. (文匯報 special)
☞ 10th Anniversary.. (Special Report/Gov't of the P.R. of China)
HK: Mass rally...
..and swimming for democracy
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