23개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Stop the Deportation Process Against MTU's President
MTU issued y'day the following statement:
Denunciation of the Cancellation of the Migrants' Trade Union Chairperson's EPS Visa Status
The order for departure for Migrants’ Trade Union Leader Michel is the cutting off of the tongue of the migrant worker who speaks out and the tying of the hands and feet of the fighting migrant worker and is a clear oppression of the activities of workers unions!! This order must be cancelled and his stay guaranteed.
The Seoul Immigration Office, on the 10th of February, has cancelled Migrants’ Trade Union Chairperson Michel’s EPS visa status and ordered him to leave the country, as per a February 14th official statement given to his lawyer. The Seoul Immigration Office stated that “despite what is stated on the papers submitted when the work permit was given, the company of that address does not exist” and “it has been confirmed that activities undertaken during his stay was not work labor as a foreign worker and therefore does not adhere to the content submitted at the time of requesting change of work place” and was therefore cancelling his visa status and requiring him to leave before March 7th.
However, we denounce these official measures as oppression against legitimate Labor Union activity and in particular a targeted crackdown on its chairperson Michel. The government, in order to oppress the activities of the Migrants’ Trade Union, has already targeted, arrested by force and deported past union chairpersons, vice-chairpersons and secretariats. There have been no exceptions in these oppressive measures among any of the past Migrants’ Trade Union chairpersons or officers.
The Ministry of Labor exercised undue pressure several times on the company that hired Chairperson Michel, and in the end canceled the employment permit of the business owner on December 1st. The Ministry of Justice then alleged the Chairperson had broken Immigration Law, and summoned him for questioning on December 22nd. The Ministry of Justice’s Office of Immigration claims Chairperson Michel falsely claimed employment.
This however is not true. The Ministry of Labor has already carried out an investigation under the same allegation (July 13th of last year) but could not come up with any proof of legal wrongdoing. At the time the Ministry of Labor sent official notice requesting the business owner to request a change in work place for the worker as the company was in de facto suspension of business. It was only much later in December when they one-sidedly canceled the company’s employment permit for the inadequate reason that it could not maintain labor relations because the business was in long-term suspension. This is in extreme contrast to the Ministry of Labor’s failure to investigate the pains suffered by migrant workers from unjust treatment from business owners and limitations on their rights.
It is not true that the company of the address does not exist, nor is it true that he did not engage in work labor. Chairperson Michel legally obtained recommendations and lists of businesses from the Ministry of Labor Job Center and after being hired, registered himself at the Job Center as well as at the immigration office. It only turned out there was not much work to be done at the workplace, and it was clear when being hired the business existed. It is not the laborer’s responsibility that the company has suspended business for not having enough work to do.
Therefore we think these allegations are an excuse to attack Chairperson Michel’s legitimate labor activity. He legally obtained a job without any wrongdoing, and to speak of labor union activity done on downtime as false employment is clearly an act of oppression. If the government applies as much scrutiny to workplaces, the labor conditions of migrant workers would be greatly improved.
We can only think their taking away of the Chairperson’s work permit by throwing these allegations at him is because the Migrants’ Trade Union Chairperson entered through the employment permit system(EPS) and has the legal right of stay, and therefore they cannot use the target crackdown investigation tactics they had on past officers of the Migrants’ Trade Union, and we condemn these acts as crude and shameful.
To not acknowledge even this much union activity is to cut the tongues of all migrant workers who speak out for their rights and to tie the hands and feet of those who act. The government seems to have shown they want “silent” and “obedient” slaves who “tolerate every exploitation and abuse.” This is also a great international humiliation for the Korean government which calls itself a human rights-abiding state.
Chairperson Michel has acted for the legitimate rights of migrant workers, as well as for the rights of various oppressed people such as irregular workers, people displaced by development, and sexual minorities. This is another kind of contribution to the advancement of Korean society.
The Seoul Immigration Office of the Ministry of Justice must cancel its order for departure and its cancellation of the Chairperson’s work permit and guarantee his stay in this country!
2011. 2. 15
Migrants’ Trade Union/Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(Seoul Regional Council)
http://migrant.nodong.net/?document_srl=89286#0
Related statement:
☞ 이주노조 표적탄압 중단하고, 그 정성으로 인권보장에 나서보라 (KCTU, 2.16)
Related news reports:
☞ 출입국사무소, 미셸 이주노조 위원장 체류허가 취소 출국명령 (KHSM)
☞ 시민 노동계, 이주노조 위원장 출국반대 성명 연이어 (VoP)
☞ 이주노조 위원장되면 무조건 쫓겨난다? (Redian)
☞ 이주노조 위원장 출국반대 성명 잇따라 (SBS)
☞ 미셸 이주노조위원장 출국명령 (Hankyoreh)
The (bourgeois) Korea Times published y'day the following report:
Hanjin Heavy locks factories
Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC) imposed a lockout at its main shipbuilding yard and factories Monday, in reaction to a strike against a layoff plan by its union that started on Dec. 20. The company plans to make 190 employees redundant today as it previously announced.
The union pledged to continue their fight for the abolition of a massive layoff plan. On the same day, two more union members also joined a female protestor on a 50-meter-high crane in a shipyard in Busan, who has been there for over a month.
HHIC reported to the provincial labor authorities Monday that it had locked the Yeongdo shipyard and Dadaepo factory in Busan and its Ulsan factory to protect them from the union’s strike and protests.
The company and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) have been struggling against the layoff plan since December.
“Since they started the protest, they have caused financial and other damage to the company and related subcontractors,” an official from the company said. “It’s an inevitable decision to protect the company from illegal protests.”
Following the lockout, the company will only allow limited union members to enter the company’s properties on days of negotiation. It also ordered some 600 laborers to leave worksites immediately, and is considering calling the police to crackdown on illegal protestors.
Union members were in shock on hearing of the lockout, due to the unexpected move by the company.
“It’s too sudden. The company has not informed us of the decision yet. We learned it from news reports,” an official from the Busan office of the KCTU said. “We’re discussing necessary steps regarding the decision, but we’ll continue the strike until our demands are met.”
Kim Jin-suk, a member of the direction committee for the Busan office of the KCTU, has continued a protest from the 50-meter high driver’s seat of a crane at the company’s Yeongdo shipyard since Jan. 6.
She refused to stop the protest even after the court ruled she must leave the site and prohibited her from entering again. She now has to pay a one million won ($890) fine each day she continues the illegal protest.
She was joined by union members Moon Chul-sang and Chae Gil-yong on Monday.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/02/117_81390.html
Related reports:
☞ 한진중, 172명 해고 통보...노조 “끝장 투쟁이다” (NewsCham, 2.15)
☞ 한진중공업 '정리해고' 법정 간다 (OMN, 2.15)
Egypt, last Friday afternoon:
After 18 days of mass protests (at least 300 people were killed and thousands injured), finally it took just over 30 seconds for Egypt's "vice-president", Omar Suleiman (aka the "Sheikh al-Torture"), to announce that dictator-president Hosni Mubarak was standing down and handing power to the military.
"In the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful," Suleiman read. "My fellow citizens, in the difficult circumstances our country is experiencing, President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak has decided to give up the office of the president of the republic and instructed the supreme council of the armed forces to manage the affairs of the country. May God guide our steps."
Well, that's a great victory for the pro-democratic movement in Egypt!!!
But the party - and what a party - is over. Now it's hangover time - and what a hangover.
The young democratic movement in Egypt is far from to be victorious: For now, it has resulted in a paradox. The dictator-president has indeed stepped down, but the protesters who demanded democracy are now getting a state under control of the military, an institution that by its very nature is far from a civilian democracy...(*)
Today's top figure in Egypt is Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the country's defence minister who is not a known reformer (resp. he's well-known for his ant-reformist attitude: In 2008 he told senior American officials he was opposed to economic or political reforms in his country, claiming it would weaken Mubarak's regime, according to a leaked diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks).
And his main goal is to "restore law and order", demanded by the Egytian ruling class and supported by the so-called "int'l community", i.e. the ruling class in the U.S., the E.U. and the rest of the "civilised" world.
In a sign that the army will only tolerate a limited challenge to its power, al-Jazeera reported a short while ago that the "Egypt's military leaders are preparing to ban strikes and any act against 'chaos and disorder'..."
Today's Asia Times(HK) writes: At this stage, no one knows whether Mubarakism will survive with a minimal facelift; whether Mubarakism will co-opt the next elections while the army stays in the shade; or whether a real social and political revolution will radically, eventually reorganize all the structure of wealth and power in Egypt.
Mahmoud Nassar, one of the organisers behind the Tahrir Square protests, said the demonstrations would go on. "The revolution is continuing. Its demands have not been met yet," he said. "The sit-in and protests are in constant activity until the demands are met. All are invited to join."
Here some pieces about the armed forces' role (in behalf of the Egyptian dictatorship/ruling class) during the days of uprising:
☞ Military tortured, “disappeared” thousands of demonstrators (LibCom, 2.12)
☞ Egyptian army tortures protestors (Yedioth Ahronoth, 2.10)
☞ Egypt's army 'involved in detentions and torture' (Guardian, 2.09)
Related articles:
☞ Army orders last protesters to leave... (Haaretz, 2.14)
☞ Under the (Egyptian) volcano (Asia Times, 2.14)
Egypt, Feb. 11, 2011:
...of Mubarak's Dictatorship
Related reports:
☞ Hosni Mubarak resigns – and Egypt celebrates a new dawn (Guardian, 2.11)
☞ Egypt's arduous road to freedom (al-Jazeera, 2.12)
☞ Protestors pressure Egyptian army (Yedioth Ahronoth, 2.13)
*MTU Korean Language Class: Every Sunday in Yanju (11:00am), Dongdaemun (11:00am) and Seongsu (4:00pm)
*MTU Computer Class: Every Sunday 1:00~3:00pm.
All migrant workers interested in learning about computers (hardware, software, internet, etc.) may... participate whenever they like.
*MTU Drama Class: We are preparing a class through which migrant workers can learn how to express their ideas and stories through acting. All interested are welcome.
If you are interested in any of the classes above (resp. for more detailed info) please call MTU at 02-2285-6068!
Today is the 15th day of the Popular Uprising in Egypt.
But there is a growing number of observers, political "analysts" and Middle East "experts" who are saying that the COUNTER-REVOLUTION is already gaining ground...
For example Joshua Stacher (Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kent State University) wrote y'day the following:
Despite the tenacity, optimism, and blood of the protesters massed in Tahrir Square, Egypt's democratic window has probably already closed.
Contrary to the dominant media narrative, over the last ten days the Egyptian state has not experienced a regime breakdown. The protests have certainly rocked the system and have put Mubarak on his heels, but at no time has the uprising seriously threatened Egypt's regime. Although many of the protesters... and analysts have concentrated on the personality of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, those surrounding the embattled president, who make up the wider Egyptian regime, have made sure the state's viability was never in question. This is because the country's central institution, the military, which historically has influenced policy and commands near-monopolistic economic interests, has never balked... (in: Egypt's Democratic Mirage, Foreign Affairs)
Also y'day Pepe Escobar wrotes:
As predicted the counter-revolution is on, and brought by the usual suspects; the Egyptian army; Mubarakism's comprador elites; and the triad of Washington, Tel Aviv and European capitals... (in: Counter-revolution brought to you by..., Asia Times)
And today he's stating that "The Egyptian revolution is being dissolved right in front of the world's eyes by an optical illusion" (in: 'Sheik al-Torture' is now a democrat, Asia Times)
But finally, despite some (possibly inevitable under the current "balance of power") setbacks, the forces of the uprising - fighting for political and social liberation - still need our SOLIDARITY!
World Trade Unions Mobilising for Democracy in Egypt: February 8 Action Day
Trade unions around the world will join tomorrow a...
Day of Action for Democracy in Egypt
...following a decision by the ITUC General Council meeting in Brussels.
Unions will organise demonstrations at Egyptian embassies, and continue to press their governments to demand democratic transition in Egypt and to ensure that those responsible for the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations are brought to justice.
“We will continue to push the international community to put pressure on the regime of Hosni Mubarak to respect the wishes of the Egyptian people. Our support for Egypt’s independent trade unions and the other forces for democracy is unwavering, and we are determined that there shall be no impunity for the people responsible for the killings, assaults and intimidation of innocent people,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
For more info please check out:
http://www.ituc-csi.org/world-trade-unions-mobilising-for.html
Related article:
☞ Australian unions join global day of action (ATUC, 2.07)
For more labour news from/resp. related to Egypt please check out LabourStart!!
For today's updated news please check out:
☞ Live blog Feb 7 - Egypt protests (al-Jazeera)
Egypt - Faces of the Uprising
Here you'll get the latest news, reports, pics etc:
☞ The Battle for Egypt (al-Jazeera Special)
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