2251개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Like in the US and many other countries activists in Seoul are planning for next Saturday to "occupy" the capital to protest against "protest financial inequality" as they "will join the global movement and gather the voices of desperate Koreans" (Yonhap, 10.13). But there are a lot of other groups/organizations who also will use this day for their protest, but not just against the "bad effects of the capitalist society"... They just want to take the streets to FIGHT against CAPITALISM in keeping with the motto The (capitalist) system has no errors, the system IS the error!.
Members of civic groups hold a press conference at Seoul Plaza in downtown Seoul, Wednesday, to announce a planned rally similar to the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. They will hold their first “Occupy Seoul” rally in Yeouido (*), Saturday, against financial firms criticized for making excessive profits at the sacrifice of consumers. (K. Times, 10.13)
Other social organizations also plan to have a rally at Seoul Plaza at the same time. All the groups will then gather at Seoul Plaza to hold an “Occupy Seoul” protest at 6 p.m. (Hankyoreh, 10.13)
* complete pointless, because on the weekend (incl. Sat.) there is no one! The banks are closed (because of strong unions!!), the Nat'l Assambly is also deserted (because they don't like to 'work'^^!!) and nobody is living there...
Related articles:
☞ Occupy Wall Street spreads to Seoul (JoongAng Ilbo, 10.13)
☞ 15일 서울 점거, 어떻게 되나? (NewsCham, 10.12)
Today's (conservative/reactionary) JoongAng Ilbo reported the following:
Incheon-Seoul bus drivers strike
Workers at a major express bus company that carries 50,000 Incheon residents to Seoul daily went on strike yesterday, raising fears of crippled commutes and forcing Incheon officials to scramble to find alternative transportation for its residents.
The labor union of Samwha Express Company confirmed yesterday that its workers walked off the job at 5 a.m. to demand a bigger pay raise than the company has offered, suspending services of a total of 242 buses on 20 different lines - 75 percent of the total bus service between Incheon and Seoul.
Samwha, the union said, offered to raise the current 4,727 won hourly wage for drivers by just 3.5 percent instead of the 20 percent requested by the union. The union said it asked the company to increase the hourly wage to 5,700 won but Samwha offered just 4,845 won per hour and a reduction of working hours from 21 to 18 hours per day.
The company, meanwhile, said that its offer was fair because the average annual salary of its drivers was about 33 million won, which it said was 10 percent higher than salaries at other Incheon bus companies.
Samwha added that it would consider shutting down its entire Incheon-based operations if drivers don’t return to work.
“There is no doubt that we offer the best wages,” said Kim Jin-hyeon, a Samwha executive...
In July, the union went on strike after a dispute over delayed payments of drivers’ wages and to demand better working conditions.
The strike came to an end after two days when Samwha agreed to pay the delayed wages and promised to continue negotiations on other issues. The union said it had negotiated with the company nine times since Aug. 12 but failed to agree on any issue...
Comment:
1. "Samwha offered 4,845 won (3 Euro/USD 4.09) per hour..." That's just a provocation!!
2. "Samwha offered... a reduction of working hours from 21 to 18 hours per day" What a f*cking bullshit? Nobody can work 21 resp. 18 hours a day!!
But possibly JoongAng Ilbo made a mistake(??) and wanted to write 'from 12 hours to 8 hours per day'... But with the reduction of the working hours there will be also a reduction of the payment! So the workers demand should be: "Reduction in working hours by full compensatory wage increases!!"
Related article:
☞ 삼화고속 버스노동자 총파업 돌입 (미디어충청, 10.11)
Last night in Busan: Thousands of riot cops - once again - used, as Busan Metropolitan Police Agency "promissed" few days before, massive force to crush the (5th) "Hope Bus" protests...
Today's (bourgeois) Korea Times 'reported' the following: "During an operation to disperse thousands of participants of a rally in Busan in support of dismissed shipbuilding workers, police apprehended 59 protestors, Sunday.
About 4,000 labor activists, civic group members and citizens gathered in the country’s largest port city to join the fifth round of the “Hope Bus” campaign to oppose massive layoffs by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC).
Police fired water cannons on the crowds as they attempted to march toward the company’s Yeongdo shipyard on Saturday night. When the march was blocked, protestors moved to BIFF Sqaure in Nampo-dong and continued the rally by holding various cultural events until Sunday morning..."
Related reports/articles:
☞ 5차희망버스 “정리해고 철회하라! 조남호를 처벌하라!” (KCTU, 10.9)
☞ 희망버스, 영도조선소 앞에서 약식집회 (NewsCham, 10.9)
☞ '희망버스' 참가자들, 영도 한진중공업으로 행진 (VoP, 10.9)
☞ 김진숙 "국회와 한진 움직인 희망버스 정말 멋졌다" (OMN, 10.9)
☞ Police nab 59 'Hope Bus' protestors (Korea Times, 10.9)
☞ 5차 희망버스 경찰 물대포로 강제진압-① (video, 10.8)
Impressions from today's solidarity rally/culture festival to support the struggle of female Hyundai Motors workers, who were sexual harassed on their workplace(*) and later fired, because they brought their case to court. They are now since about 130 days in sit-in strike in front of Ministry for "Gender Equality" (on Seoul's Cheonggye Plaza), where also today's rally took place.
* Related articles:
☞ Woman Files for Workplace Injury Compensation over Sexual Harassment (arirang, 7.26)
☞ Female worker files complaints about sexual harassment (K. Times, 9.26)
SAVE JEJU ISLAND! NO THE NAVAL BASE!
Today's Hankyoreh reported about the following (possibly) positive development:
Jeju Provincial Council announces opposition to naval base
Following 22-day investigation, council cites procedural flaws and exposes misleading military-tourism concept
The Jeju Provincial Council announced Tuesday that it had concluded from its administrative investigation that the construction of the Jeju Naval Base must be immediately stopped, citing clear and serious procedural faults and errors.
The council initiated a 22-day investigation on Sept. 15 that concluded Tuesday to reach a decision over whether to continue with or oppose construction for the naval base. In its report, the Jeju Provincial Council claimed the construction plan must be entirely reconsidered, since the concept of a combined military and private tourism site was determined to be infeasible, while other serious procedural errors were also discovered. The council said that the South Korean Navy pushed the military-tourism concept in order to win over local residents.
On the issue of two different basic agreements with Jeju, the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs reached in April 2009, the council argued in the report, “Although it may be legally valid, it is a direct insult to the Jeju residents, since the two different agreements were reached with the intent of deceiving local constituents into believing that the base will incorporate aspects of a tourist site.”
The Jeju Provincial Council also proved two 150,000-ton-class Cruises cannot dock at the same time, as alleged in the military-tourism concept.
“The fact that nobody has taken responsibility and the construction is still ongoing, despite the discovery of a range of serious problems, is indicative of the serious flaws in the project. The construction must be stopped,” the Jeju Provincial Council said in its report.
The Jeju Provincial Council plans to accuse Navy Chief of Staff Kim Sung-chan, Chief of the Naval Base Project Lee Eun-gook and the Navy Headquarters for the violation of the administrative order that requires experts are present during the installation of a fence prior to excavation efforts.
On unresolved issues regarding the construction that the provincial council could not conduct an investigation due to its limited statutory powers, the Jeju Provincial Council plans to request a parliamentary investigation.
During the opening address for the provincial assembly session, Assembly Speaker Moon Dae-lim said, “It is the time for the government to respond,” urging it to listen to their pleas and start to openly talk with the Jeju residents on the issue. Moon added that the concept of tourist site needs to be reexamined, since it was only presented to appeal to residents without factoring in feasibility.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/499351.html
For more info please check out: SAVE JEJU ISLAND
1. Latest news from Jeju (struggle against the planned naval base) by today's (conservative/reactionary) JoongAng Ilbo:
Students, workers from Hanjin arrested in Jeju
Police arrested 11 university students and four Hanjin Heavy Industries workers for illegally entering the construction site for a naval base in Gangjeong Village, Jeju Island, on a charge of interference with government affairs.
Seogwipo Police said yesterday that 12 students broke into the construction site, which is protected with wire fences, at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
They scuffled with a naval officer who tried to block them. The Navy called for help and about 50 policemen appeared.
During the scuffle, a female student was struck and taken to the hospital. The remaining 11 students were detained by police.
Afterward, police blocked the Jungdeok Intersection to prevent further protests near the site, provoking a reaction from liberal activists and local residents, who have staged rallies against the naval base for about two months.
A group clashed with police, and four employees of Busan-based Hanjin Heavy Industries were arrested.
Anti-government rallies have also been held at Hanjin in recent months, focusing on a labor dispute.
According to local media, the university students said that they just wanted to see the Gureombi Rock, which is located inside the site.
Police said the workers and the students flew in from the mainland to participate in a large-scale “festival” Sunday. The protests are now dubbed festivals to circumvent police restrictions.
The construction of the naval base on about 530,000 square meters (130 acres) of land near Gangjeong Port at a cost of 17.4 billion won ($16 million) is facing stiff resistance from a disparate group that says the base threatens the peace of Jeju Island.
Local residents have been joined by liberal activists and religious leaders from all over Korea in protests very similar to the ones in Busan at Hanjin Heavy Industries.
Related report:
☞ 강정마을 또 충돌...학생 11명, 한진중 노동자 4명 연행 (미디어충청, 10.3)
2. A (rabble-rousing) article about the latest developments in preperation of coming weekend's 5th "Hope Bus" tour to Busan to express solidaity with the struggle of Hanjin workers (in Monday's bourgeois Korea Times):
Calls growing against 'Hope Bus' rally
Residents in Busan are mounting calls on labor activists to stop holding a protest rally in support of dismissed shipbuilding workers this weekend when the southeastern port city hosts the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
Labor activists, civic group members and citizens have held the so-called ``Hope Bus’’ rallies four times so far and the organizers plan the fifth round of protest on Oct. 8-9 during which Busan hosts the film festival. The internationally-renowned film festival will begin on Oct. 6 and last through 14.
The rallies have been organized in protest of massive layoffs of unionized workers at Yeongdo shipyard by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC) in the port city.
They are gathering in Busan to support Kim Jin-sook, a former Hanjin Heavy worker and member of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), who has been staging a sit-in protest atop a 35-meter giant crane at its shipyard since January.
However, protest organizers, including members of KCTU and the Democratic Labor Party, are facing growing opposition from Busan residents, particularly those associated with conservative civic groups, sparking violent confrontation between the two sides in past rallies.
Municipal administrations and civic groups in Busan said the rally has caused severe traffic congestion, negatively affected the regional economy and damaged the city’s image, demanding the protest be halted or held elsewhere.
They said they will not allow any of the Hope Bus rally participants to enter the city during the film festival, urging the police to crack down on the illegal protesters.
On Sept. 30, more than 100 representatives of civic groups based in Busan came to Seoul to pay a visit to National Police Agency Commissioner Cho Hyun-oh, demanding the law enforcement authorities get tougher on Hope Bus protesters.
``We told the police chief that Busan residents are furious over a series of illegal protests in the name of supporting Hanjin Heavy workers. We said we will mobilize all possible measures to prevent the planned rally from being held during the film festival,’’ Choi Sang-gi, chairman of the Busan Pan-Citizens’ Union, said after a meeting with the commissioner. Choi said he asked Cho to stop protesters from disrupting the international event.
In response, the commissioner said police will take stern measures against those engaging in illegal protests in accordance with the law, requesting Busan residents refrain from clashing with Hope Bus demonstrators. Cho said all protests held after sunset will be banned in Busan, adding about 10,000 riot police will be deployed to protest sites.
Early last month, members of progressive political parties and civic groups announced a plan to hold the fifth round of Hope Bus protests, drawing strong criticism from Busan residents. The organizers said they will host a gathering in front of the Yeongdo shipyard on Oct. 8-9 to demand Hanjin Heavy rehire all dismissed workers.
Following the announcement, the Busan Metropolitan Government issued a statement, saying the planned protest may cause severe traffic congestion throughout the city and damage its international image.
The Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged Hope Bus protestors to retract their decision, saying the demonstration will throw Hanjin Heavy and the entire local community into chaos.
Yeongdo district resident associations also vented anger at demonstrators, demanding they stop disrupting the daily life of residents and causing financial damage to the regional economy.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/10/117_95881.html
Related article:
☞ Sick of rallies, Busan civic group fights fire with fire (JoongAng Ilbo, 10.1)
Today at 03:30 in the morning: About 70 "security guards", i.e. organized gangsters, hired by Gangnam-gu(district) office, forcibly attacked the residents of Poi-dong and cleared the way for the complete destruction of seven new build houses(*):
A more detailed report about it, you'll get as soon as possible!!!
Ilsan/Pung-dong, May 2004: Dozens of gangsters, hired by the construction company (mafia!), armed with fire bombs, iron bars, precision slingshots and special modified excavators attacked people who defended their homes against "redevelopment", i.e. forced eviction...
Seoul, Yongsan (2008/9): "security guards" (i.e. organized gangs of criminals, Yonhap called them "temporary police workers", hired by the construction companies, commissioned with the "redevelopment..") terrorized the entire neighborhood...
Myeong-dong "redevelopment" zone, spring 2011: Gangsters, hired by Daewoo Construction (mafia!) attacked several times "Cafe Mari"...
Related articles/videos:
☞ South Korea, Terror of the Construction Mafia (May 2004)
☞ Terror against victims of forced eviction (video, 2004)
☞ Construction companies hiring security guards... (Jan. 2009)
☞ Yongsan Massacre... (Jan. 2009)
Impressions from yesterday's rally (in front of Seoul Stn.) of "irregular" school staff workers (about 3000, mainly female workers from all across S. Korea participated), damanding equal payment, higher minimum wage, human working conditions and decasualisation:
Related article:
☞ 학교비정규직 “호봉제 도입하라”...3천여명 대규모 집회 (VoP, 9.25)
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