2250개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Since One Week: Hyundai Motor's Irregular Workers on Strike!
Yesterday's Yonhap reported the following: The non-regular workers union at Hyundai Motor's Co. clashed with management over employment conditions on Saturday, with one employee trying to set himself afire.
Company and police sources said 550 workers who have blockaded themselves at the company's main assembly line in Ulsan since Monday clashed with members of management who asked them to end the takeover.
"Vice President Kang Ho-dong tried to speak directly with workers and called for an end to the illegal strike, but union leaders blocked his entry, resulting in clashes and fights," a company source said.
(source of the pics: KCTU)
The source said several non-regular workers were injured while others, who were dragged out by company employees...
Police also said 170 non-regular workers tried to enter another Hyundai assembly line but were dispersed by management using fire hoses, while a 33-year-old worker tried to set himself on fire (but escaped serious injury, according to K. Times, 11.21) during a separate rally at the front gate of the carmaker's factory arranged by the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)...
Meanwhile, according to KCTU, KMWU is calling for a 'General Strike'. "It can’t be ruled out that Hyundai Motor's militant trade union for regular workers take collective action", today's K. Times reported.
Related articles:
☞ 현대차 비정규직 노동자 분신 (VoP, 11.20)
☞ 분신한 비정규 조합원 생명에는 지장 없어 (NewsCham, 11.20)
☞ 현대자동차 비정규직 노동자 집회 중 분신 (OMN, 11.20)
☞ 사측 퇴거통보서 들고 진입. 대규모 충돌 (KCTU, 11.20)
Hundreds of "irregular" workers 'enslaved' by Hyundai Motor in South Korea continued today their sit-in strike struggle for the 4th day.
On Monday at least 400 "irregular" workers from a Hyundai subcontractor began a sit-in strike at the Ulsan plant demanding that they should be hired on regular contracts. Y'day the strike continued and expanded to assembly lines in Asan and Jeonju...
Meanwhile the Hyundai management hired hundreds of mobsters to attack the struggling workers with the aim to break the strike as soon as possible!!!
Related articles:
☞ Hyundai Motor may halt due to strike by irregular workers (K. Herald, 11.18)
☞ Hyundai Motor sues temporary workers for 'illegal' strike (AFP, 11.17)
☞ [현대차비정규직파업4일차] 울산·아산공장 폭력사태 (KCTU, 11.18)
☞ 현대차, 1공장서 퇴거통고서 낭독하고 물러나 (NewsCham, 11.18)
☞ 현대차 아산 또 폭력사태...“용역 투입됐다” (Cmedia, 11.18)
☞ [현대차비정규직파업3일차] 울산·아산·전주 (KCTU, 11.17)
Yesterday's Yonhap reported the following:
Hyundai Motor contract workers taken into custody...
Scores of non-regular workers of Hyundai Motor (factory in Ulsan) were taken into custody Monday during a heavy clash with riot police in a rally to demand formal employee status with the country's largest automaker.
More than 300 unionized contract workers were staging a protest in front of their factories in this city, 414 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Riot police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators after a series of physical confrontations, but the workers reassembled at another factory building and were continuing their protest, according to witnesses.
Source of the pic: KCTU
And here's yesterday's news report by AFP:
Twenty injured in clash at Hyundai car factory
South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor said Monday that 20 people were injured in a violent protest by hundreds of temporary workers.
The company said 20 of its permanent employees were injured in an attempt to drive out temporary workers who have occupied an auto plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan.
Riot police used tear gas to end a violent protest by hundreds of temporary workers inside and outside the factory and detained 50 demonstrators, Yonhap news agency said.
Some temporary workers were injured, it said.
The dispute began when a contractor took over the company's car seat production. Temporary workers have refused to sign contracts with the new company, demanding formal employee status.
South Korea has an estimated 5.3-million "non-regular" or temporary workers, whose bosses are unwilling to employ them on a permanent basis, which would give them greater rights.
The union of Hyundai Motor's full-time workers has a history of militancy, going on strike almost every year since its establishment in 1987.
But in 2009 it had its strike-free year in a decade and a half after union leaders promised to help it ride out the global downturn. The union also agreed a wage deal in July 2010, marking its second year without a strike...
Related articles:
☞ 현대차, 비정규직 노동자들에 폭력 자행 (KCTU, 11.15)
☞ 현대차 비정규직 노조 간부 납치됐다 풀려나 (NewsCham, 11.16)
☞ "29명 조지면 되는 줄 알았나? 현대차, 잘못건드렸다" (VoP, 11.16)
For more information please check out:
☞ 울산노동뉴스
Two days ago the S. Korean "left"-liberal Hankyoreh published the following report(*):
Tragedy of Yongsan
Jeon Jae-sook, 68, third from right, cries out in grief after hearing the verdict of the Yongsan redevelopment tragedy and hugs her daughter-in-law Jeong Young-shin in front of the Supreme Court in Seoul’s Seocho District, Nov. 11. Jeon lost husband Lee Sang-lim and the government imprisoned her son Lee Chung-yeon due to the Yongsan Tragedy in 2009 that took the lives of five civilians and one police officer.
The Yongsan area was designated a redevelopment zone by the Lee Myung-bak administration, and many of the area’s poor residents were forcibly evicted and received paltry compensation.
Finalizing 22 months of disputes over a major fire that broke out during the police crackdown on the residents’ protest, the Supreme Court upheld Thursday the Court of Appeals verdict which pronounced nine protesters guilty, saying, “they illegally occupied a building’s rooftop in Yongsan to protest Seoul City’s urban redevelopment project.”
“The original verdict was correct in stating that the police’s operations to quell the protest were not conducting their duties improperly,” the top court said. “Molotov cocktails thrown by the protesters caused the fires at the guard tower.”
As a result, two protesters, including Lee Chung-yeon, 37-years-old and a leader of an association of Yongsan residents who were refused eviction, were sentenced five years in prison. Other five protesters, including a Mr. Kim, were founded in four years, while another defendant were found three years in prison with a four year suspended sentence and the last one two years in prison with a three year suspended sentence. The prosecutors previously cleared police officers of wrongdoing in an investigation marred by fair trial violations.
In response, the defendants said they will appeal the case to the United Nations in regard to human rights violations. Park Rae-goon, an advocate of the convicted protesters, said a group of lawyers would file a complaint with the UN Human Rights Commission.
“I believe the UN will take it differently,” Park told reporters after the ruling. “The police did not operate by the rules during the suppression. But the court ruled the protestors were fully liable for the incident. It is unfair.”
Meanwhile, the case against the police officers including then-Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Seok-ki is on trial at the Supreme Court. Evicted Yongsan residents filed the case, arguing that the police’s crackdown was improper.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) issued an opinion in February confirming that the behavior of the police during the crackdown was illegal, and recommended indicting members of the police leadership, SMPA Commissioner Kim.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_entertainment/448409.html
* The report has been filed under "Entertainment"(sic)!
Ermm, entertainment...?? Yeah, of course it's "entertainment"!! But only for the S. Korean ruling class, especially the Construction Mafia!!!
Related article:
☞ Sentence is upheld in Yongsan fire (JoongAng Ilbo, 11.12)
1. Surprise, surprise: All the various anti-G20 activities (conferences, rallies and demonstrations) in Seoul were complete ignored in/by the int'l media!!(*)
2. Even the South Korean "left-liberal" newspaper Hankyoreh mentioned yesterday's "Int'l Day of Collective People’s Action" demo only with some few words: "Domestic and international activists hold a protest near Seoul Station and march to the Namyeong Station under the banner, 'Responsibility before the economic crisis: We denounce the G-20! The International People’s Cooperative Action Day' Nov. 11."
3. But today's Korea Times, one of the mouthpieces of the South Korean ruling class, noticed with satisfaction "G20 summit unmarred by violent rallies" !!!
Anyway, here two snapshots from yesterday's protests against the G-20 Summit during the so-called "Int'l Day of Collective People’s Action":
A lot more impressions(pictures, incl. Korean reports) related to yesterday's anti-G20 protest rally/demo 'celebrating' the "Int'l Day of Collective People’s Action" you can see here and here!
* More about the issue (possibly^^) next week...
Today afternoon the final ('official') protest against the G-20 Summit, the "Int'l Day of Collective People’s Action" under the slogan "Put People First! G20, Stop Making Common People Pay for the Crisis!" took place in downtown Seoul.
After the opening rally and a culture program thousands (5000 according to Voice of People, 6000 according to NewsCham) of demonstrators took the streets and marched until they were stopped only few hundred meters afterwards (just two subway stations) by thousands of riot cops...(*)
A few hours ago Yonhap news agency reported the following about the event:
Activists, laborers stage anti-G20 protests in Seoul
South Korean labor and civic groups joined with international activists Thursday to stage protests to raise their voice against this week's G-20 summit in Seoul.
The rally ended without anyone being arrested or taken into custody, despite scuffles with the police as the protesters marched through downtown.
Organized by a confederation of 83 civic groups calling itself "Put People First! Korean People's G-20 Response Action," the rally began in front of the Seoul Station. Organizers claimed some 10,000 people showed up, but the police said it counted about 3,500.
The protest, also backed by political campaigners, college students, human rights activists and interest groups, was one of several planned in the city to coincide with the gathering of world leaders for the G-20 summit on Thursday and Friday. Heads of governments and financial chiefs along with leaders from non-G-20 nations have come to Seoul to attend the global economic forum.
Over 3,000 riot police stood guard with water cannons and other protest-quelling equipment.
The protesters scuffled their way past the police to march through downtown, arriving an hour later at a city intersection where they burned a coffin marked as symbolizing G-20 and free trade agreements, causing another physical clash.
Protesters' demands varied from job stability, fair distribution of wealth and scrapping of free trade agreements to the withdrawal of South Korean troops from Afghanistan. Placards read, "G20, Stop making people pay for the crisis," "STOP G20," "Withdraw troops from Afghanistan" and "No FTA."
A South Korean college student, waving a picket that said "G20 chairman = Labor repression champion," told Yonhap that he was protesting against the government's excessive crackdown on migrant workers and labor unions under the guise of the G-20.
Organizers said some 100 international activists also joined Thursday's rally.
Toshsiko Sogame, 64, from Japan, was among those who flew to Seoul to join the anti-20 events.
"I'm here to raise the voice for revision of immigration laws that discriminate against foreigners," Sogame said, flying flags written in Japanese...
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/11/11/8/0302000000AEN20101111011600315F.HTML
* Some impressions (pics) about today's rally/demo you'll see here tomorrow!!
Related reports:
☞ 본대회 후 남영역까지 행진...산발적 충돌 (NewsCham)
☞ 'G20 대응 민중행동', 서울선언 발표.."경제위기, 민중에게 전가하지 말라" (TiN)
☞ 서울 도심의 분노한 국제민중들, "G20 규탄한다!..." (VoP)
Today's Korea Times reported(*): "With South Korea gearing up to host the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies, a security fence has been set up on the roads surrounding Coex, the main venue for the Nov. 11 and 12 G20 Seoul Summit, to protect participants from possible terrorist attacks and protests..."
Well, almost 5 years ago the APEC Summit took place in Busan and the (very special^^) measures to prevent so-called "violent" protests by thousands of workers, peasants and resistance activists...
...ultimately failed(!!), as you can see here:
(source: 11.18, BUSAN)
* Related articles:
☞ S Korean unions plan G20 protests (al-Jazeera TV, 11.9)
☞ S.Korea's dramatic protesters are ready for global spotlight (LAT, 11.10)
☞ Alert on rallies jacked up (Korea Times, 11.10)
A message of solidarity and friendship from the Philippines:
This video was made to defy and circumvent the deportation of Jess Santiago, and the other activists(*), who were barred from entering South Korea where the G20 meeting will be held...
* Related articles:
☞ Seoul bars 7th Filipino activist... (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 11.9)
☞ Another Filipino activist deported from S. Korea (ABS-CNB, 11.8)
Press Release
For immediate Release
Seoul, 08 November 2010
Ahead of the G20 Summit
Civil society not welcomed in G20 Seoul
International civil society organisations, members of Our World is not for Sale, trade unions and the international peasant movement La Via Campesina condemn the deportation by the Korean government of seven activists from the Philippines who had been granted visas. Furthermore, other progressive activists from Asian and African countries were unjustifiably denied visas.
The list of individuals, mostly civil society leaders from developing countries, prohibited from entry, was based not on concrete evidence of actual threat or histories of dangerous acts, but instead on the goal of preventing their participation in civil society events critical of the G20, particularly the International Conference organized by Put People First!-Korean People's G20 Response Action.
Member of Parliament from Malaysia, Charles Santiago, expressed “While activists, critical to the G20 and neoliberal economic policies have encountered an antagonistic reception by the Korean government, 100 global business executives, gathering for the G20 Business Summit, will be welcomed with a red carpet.”
Deported labour representative from the Philippines Josua Mata added “Nothing demonstrates better the true nature of the G20 than the fact that while it is detaining and deporting activists from the global south, it is busy preparing to have an intimate dialogue with the world’s top corporate leaders. This only confirms what we have been saying all along – the G20 is undemocratic and not interested in improving ordinary people’s lives.”
“The G20 which is a non-elected and non-representative body and excludes majority of developing and poor countries has no legitimacy to be deciding on the economic and political directions of the world.” declared Yoon Geum Soon, representative of the international movement of small farmers La Vía Campesina.
Tyotyo James from the Confederation of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) concluded “Since 2008, the G20 has been nothing but a talk show and has failed to deliver any coordinated response to the economic and financial crisis. The future of global economic governance should be discussed, instead, at the United Nations”.
More information:
Mr. Lee Changgeun : +82 (0) 10 94 43 92 34
Tom Kucharz +82 (0) 10 86 59 13 49
Karen Lang +82 (0) 68 84 20 92
E-mail : peoplesg20action.Seoul@gmail.com
Website : http://www.putpeoplefirst.kr
Related article:
☞ Groups demand activists’ entry (K. Herald, 11.8)
*****
After yesterday's KCTU mass rally (some impressions you can see here!) JoongAng Ilbo came to the surprising(!!) conclusion that the S. Korean working class is "Not happy with G-20"...
But while the NYT reported that "Tens of thousands of protesters held a peaceful, almost festive, rally...", the riot cops (acting in behalf of the ruling class) weren't in a festive and peaceful mood...
...they just wanted to give a foretaste of what is to come in the next days!!
Related articles:
☞ Protesters Rally in Seoul Ahead of G-20 Summit (NYT, 11.7)
☞ Tens of Thousands Protest G-20 Summit in Seoul (VOA, 11.7)
Annually, in the beginning of November, the S.Korean working class is celebrating its struggle against exploitation and opression with a massive rally and demonstration:
Seven years ago (2003, Nov. 9), after two weeks of almost daily state terror, executed by thousands of riot cops, against strikes and protests, the "National Workers Rally" has been attacked (by the riot cops) from the beginning..
And - surprise, surprise - finally the "event" escalated a "little bit"...
MUST SEE: "Hong Gil-dong's" video documentary about the..
☞ National Workers Rally 2003.11.9
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