26개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Today afternoon in downtown Seoul: Migrant workers and their supporters marked yesterday's "Int'l Migrants Day" with a protest rally...
"Braving frigid weather, more than 400 migrants and human rights activists called on the government to stop its crackdown on undocumented foreigners and overhaul the employment system to eliminate exploitation and discrimination against them within the workplace...", today's Korea Times reported.
Related reports:
☞ “이주노동자 착취의 사슬, 우리 손으로 끊겠다” (NewsCham)
☞ 'We are not human machines' (K. Times)
Actually we get used to headlines in the int'l media like "N. Korea threatens the South with War", "North Korea threatens with nuclear war", "Korean peninsula on 'brink of war', Pyongyang says" or statements from N.K. like "Seoul will be the next target. It will be a sea of fire", "The army and our people are ready for both an escalated war and an all-out war" etc...
Well, we get used... And who gives a shit?
But in yesterday's Asia Times Kim Myeong-chol("Pyongyang's unofficial spokesman") defined N.K.'s latest war threatening more precisely:
Acting for supreme leader Kim Jong-il, the Young General (i.e. Kim Jong-eun) is only one click away from issuing a long-awaited order to the Korean People's Army's (KPA) shiny and sleek, quick-response global strike force. This would see the torching of the bulwark of the US empire, the skyscrapers of New York City and other centers of metropolitan America.
Crack front-line units of the KPA are ready round the clock to bomb Seoul, turning it into a towering inferno before moving in on the ground to complete their mission.
Japan's cooperation with the US would invite retaliatory nuclear missile attacks on their nuclear power plants, with the result that Tokyo and other major cities of the Japanese archipelago are rendered unhabitable...
It will only take Kim Jong-eun a couple of minutes to turn Seoul into a sea of fire, five minutes to torch Tokyo, and 15-20 minutes to evaporate New York and Washington in a "day-after" scenario...
The moment of truth will come sooner than originally expected, vindicating the validity of the military-first policy mapped out by Kim Jong-il and demonstrating how wise the Korean people are in selecting Young General Kim Jong-eun as heir to the supreme leader.
Kim's complete "article"(MUST READ!!) you can check out here:
☞ When North Korea’s threats become reality (A. Times, 12.14)
Related stuff:
Yesterday's NepalNews had the following funny(??) piece:
'Buddhism is close to Marxist ideology'
Vice chairman of the main opposition UCPN (Maoist) Dr Baburam Bhattarai has drawn a parallel between Marxism and the Buddhist philosophy, saying that the two doctrines are very similar.
"The Buddhist philosophy is very much similar to Marxist ideology," he said.
Speaking at a book launching ceremony organised by Nepal-China Society in the capital on Sunday, the Maoist ideologue said Lord Buddha held very progressive view during his time and his philosophy and teachings are not so far removed Marxist ideology.
At the programme, Bhattarai also stressed on the need to expand the Buddhist philosophy across the world.
And it seems that the S. Korean Buddhists are already on the right track!!(^^):
Jogyesa, the main temple of the Buddhist Jogye Order in central Seoul, displays a placard stating its refusal to admit members of the Lee Myung-bak administration and the GNP in protest of the
four-rivers refurbishment project... (Yonhap, 12.09)
Bangladesh: Mass Protests and Riots Against Exploitation
Four workers were killed and more than hundred injured by police terror
Today's Hankyoreh "reported" the following:
Deadly clash at S.Korean-owned factory
South Korean-owned garment factory workers demanding the implementation of a new minimum wage clashed with police at an industrial zone in Chittagong, southeastern Bangladesh, on Sunday, leaving up to four people dead and some 150 hurt, the Associated Press reported.
Police fired live bullets and tear gas shells at the protestors after thousands of workers attacked factories and smashed vehicles at the Chittagong Export Processing Zone that houses about 70 foreign companies that mainly manufacture garments, shoes and bicycles, and employ about 150,000 workers.
Sunday‘s clashes came out as a South Korean company YoungOne shut down all 17 of its factories in the country late Saturday after workers attacked the facilities. YoungOne employees have argued that the government’s hike in wages that was supposed to come last month has not been implemented.
YoungOne is the largest garment maker in Bangladesh and a leading outdoor garment and equipment maker in Korea.
Related articles (in the bourgeois media):
☞ CEPZ erupts in violence, 4 workers killed (The Daily Star, 12.12)
☞ Six Korean firms hit by Bangladesh protests (K. Herald, 12.13)
For more info please check out LabourStart!
The Korean Peninsula by Night
A shot of the Korean peninsula captured by an U.S. satellite, Oct. 29.
North Korea(*) is covered in complete darkness. (source: Hankyoreh, 12.11)
* aka the "Paradise of the Int'l Working Class" led by the "Sun of the 21st Century", i.e. the "Dear Leader"...(!!!)
Hyundai Irregular Workers' Factory Occupation Ends after 25 Days
(by Wol-san Liem/Research Institute for Alternative Workers Movements, 12.10)
Yesterday (December 9), members of the Hyundai Motors Irregular Workers Chapter of the Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) left factory 1 of the Hyundai Plant in Ulsan. Their departure marked the end of a 25-day long occupation, which they had endured without adequate food, water or bedding.
Today, representatives from the Hyundai Motors Irregular Workers Chapter, the Hyundai Motors Local Branch (regular workers), and the KMWU sat down with representatives from Hyundai Motors and its in-house subcontractors. In accordance with an agreement reached between the President of the Irregular Workers Chapter, Lee Sang-su, President of the Local Branch, Lee Gyeong-hun and President of the KMWU, they presented the following 4 demands: 1) Cancellation of damage suits and charges against workers who participated in the occupation, and payment of medical bills; 2) guarantee of reinstatement for those who participated in the occupation, 3) protection for strike leaders, and 4) a plan for negotiations concerning the regularization of illegal dispatch workers.
While negotiations have begun, it will be an uphill battle to get demands met, and take even more determination before the ultimate goal of regularization for illegal dispatch workers is achieved. Past experience including a similar struggle in 2005, has shown that without the pressure of a factory occupation it is not likely that Hyundai Motors will yield much ground. For this reason many of the striking workers had not wanted to leave factory 1 until after their demands were met in full, and originally pledge to continue the occupation until Hyundai agreed to employ them directly as regular workers.
In reality, however, the striking irregular workers have faced increasingly difficult conditions in the last several days. In addition to repression at the hands of Hyundai Motors, they have been put under growing pressure by the leadership of the Hyundai Local Branch to bring their struggle to a speedy conclusion. While the KMWU Delegates Assembly voted in favor of a general strike in support of the irregular workers struggle on December 22, it had not set a firm date. Meanwhile, President Lee Gyeong-hun of the Hyundai Motors Local Branch determined to put the general strike to a second vote at a Branch general assembly, despite the fact that the KMWU Constitution gives the delegates assembly the right to call for a general strike. When the Hyundai Motors Local Branch leadership could have been educating its members on the importance of regular-irregular workers solidarity and preparing for the general strike, it was instead suggesting to its members that it was time for struggle to be over.
With knowledge of the negative result of the Branch general assembly, and the reality that the second vote signified the cancellation of general strike plans and the loss of support from the Branch, the irregular workers set to heated debate within the factory about whether to go one with their occupation or agree to leave and begin negotiations with a set of less than satisfactory demands. In the end, they chose to accept the demands listed above as a basis for negotiation and entrusted the decision to continue or end the occupation to the Chapter leadership. After meeting with the KMWU and Branch presidents, Lee Sang-su declared an end to the occupation.
Sadly, the conclusion of the occupation demonstrates clearly the limits of the solidarity between regular and irregular workers developed in the beginning of the strike and, even more so, the lack of will on the part of the Hyundai Motors Branch’s leadership to support a strike that it should have recognized as the struggle of all Hyundai workers.
Nonetheless, there have been important victories through this struggle. The consciousness and daring of a few irregular workers quickly spread throughout the Irregular Workers Chapter and from Ulsan to Asan to Jeonju. The hundreds who participated in the strike have been transformed through the experience, coming to recognizing their common cause and developing the power and courage to demand their right to be treated equally. They constructed and made use of democratic decision-making structures even in the midst of the cruel conditions of their factory occupation, and formed a still growing sense of class-consciousness. Despite the fact that they will return to work on December 13, Hyundai irregular workers have vowed to continue organizing among their colleagues and preparing for the next phase of the struggle for regularization. As one reporter commented, the end of the factory occupation at the Ulsan Plan represents, "a victory for the Hyundai irregular workers themselves, but a loss for the labor movement as a whole."
It is the power of class-consciousness and unity that makes struggle possible. The struggle, therefore, will surely go on.
http://www.unionbook.org/profiles/blogs/hyundai-irregular-workers?xg_source=activity
Yesterday's Strike Newsletter:
The Sit-in strike by "irregular" workers of Hyundai Motor (today is the 24th day of their struggle!!) shows no signs of concluding because the Seoul-based carmaker has failed to solve the problems through discussions. The striking workers (hired by subcontractors), who have occupied buildings at the corporation’s plants in Ulsan since Nov. 15, want to become regular employees of Hyundai Motor based on full-time contracts.
Today's Hankyoreh published (strangely under "art&entertainment") the following piece about the strike's current situation:
Watershed for Hyundai sit-in
Around 400 in-house contractors of Hyundai Motor Co. met another dawn with stiff bodies on Tuesday, the 23rd day of sit-in strike demanding regular workers’ status.
Determination
The Hyundai No. 1 Factory in Ulsan they occupied has turned into ‘cold wintery island’ as company has cut off access to the strikers, in addition to cutting off access to electricity and water.
Sleeping curled up
The biggest pains reported by strikers are not the cold or isolation, but starvation. Three contractors fell down from malnutrition and some 100 contractors gave up until Dec. 7 because they entered the sit-in without any preparation...
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_entertainment/452767.html
Today in the morning(KST) about 45,000 regular unionists of Hyundai Motor - orgainzed in the KCTU/KMWU - voted on whether or not to support the strike by irregular workers (they're also organized in KCTU!!). The results will be released tomorrow afternoon(KST).
In its latest editorial The Hankyoreh(12.08) demanded: "Hyundai motor union should support striking irregular workers". But today's (bourgeois) Korea Times predicts: "The chances are that they will vote against the idea"...
Related articles:
☞ UAW rallies for Hyundai strikers in Korea (Automakers, 12.06)
☞ Hyundai fails to bring plant back online (K. Herald, 12.06)
☞ Why Hyundai Motor can’t fix deal with irregular workers (K. Times, 12.08)
최근 덧글 목록