2258개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
“00형사를 믿은 내가 바보였다. 살려준다는 말에 복직시켜준다는 말에 너만큼은 빼줄 수 있다 … 가정을 살려야 한다는 생각에 내가 동료를 팔아먹은 죽일 놈입니다. 보지도 않은 것을 보았다고 진술을 한 것입니다. 내 진술서에 3명의 진술은 거짓 진술입니다.” -유서 가운데
8월 22일, 77일 파업에 참가했던 쌍용자동차 노동자가 경찰의 허위자백 강요에 견디지 못하고 자살을 시도했다. 노조와 회사가 ‘대타협’ 정신에 입각해 쌍용자동차 정상화를 위해 노력하겠다고 합의한 지 불과 15일만의 일이다.
아직도 경찰 헬기 소리가 귀에 맴돌아 잠을 이루지 못하겠다는 노동자. 음식물 차단으로 매일 먹던 주먹밥은 생각하고 싶지도 않고, 단수, 소화전 차단 조치로 한 여름에 씻지 못해 피부병에 걸렸고, 의료진 차단으로 외상은 곪았던 그 기억의 상흔…
아무도 원망하지 않는다는 노동자들은 그렇게 몸과 마음의 병을 치유할 시간도 없이 다시 회사와 맞서고 있다. 그들의 싸움은 아직 끝나지 않았다.
-본문 중에서
미디어충청 지음 / 메이데이 발행 / 2009년 10월 12일 / 컬러 / 208쪽 / 18,000원
Yesterday's (bourgeois) Korea Herald reported following:
Civil servants fired for joining anti-gov't rally
The government said Monday it has dismissed 14 head members of three civil servant unions and disciplined a dozen others for participating in anti-government rallies in July, Yonhap said.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said a total of 105 unionized government employees belonging to the three unions, which recently merged into one, had been referred to its disciplinary committee for taking part in the July anti-government rally.
The rally was organized by opposition parties and civic activists to protest the Lee Myung-bak government's attempts to revise media bills and renovate major river basins.
Fourteen senior members of the government employees unions were fired for violating obligatory political neutrality as public servants, according to the ministry. Another 37 other employees were punished by being demoted, suspended from duty, reprimanded or with pay cuts.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/10/12/200910120096.asp
Related articles (on the current attempts to suppress the labour movement):
☞ Ssangyong unionist draws jail term for organizing strike (K. Herald, 10.9)
☞ Prosecution Summons KTU Leaders (Korea Times, 10.8)
Before yesterday(9.30) the preparatory committee for the Yongsan Civil Court held a press conference in front of the Namildang building (the site of the Yongsan Massacre, in Hangangno 2-ga, Yongsan-gu/district) where they said that President Lee Myung-bak, Seoul's Mayor Oh Se-hoon, then police commissioner Kim Seok-ki, then Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office President Chun Sung-gwan and the head of the construction company should stand as defendants in the court of the people.
The committee announced on the press conference that it has sent summons to the persons. They were selected as defendants on charges of forcefully suppressing the Yongsan protests, covering-up the massacre and enforcing a violent "redevelopment" project.
The committee was founded on Sept. 14(*) to impute in the name of the people responsibility onto the assailant of the Yongsan Tragedy, the state. The trial is to be conducted with a jury of 50 ordinary citizens and will begin on Oct. 18.
Related report:
☞ “정치쇼 아닌 (정 총리)눈물 일단 믿어보겠다” (KCTU, 9.30)
* The Hankyoreh, 9.14:
Citizens take city to court for Yongsan tragedy
Committee members prepare for their citizens’ law court against police and the city regarding Yongsan tragedy holds their inaugural meeting at the very site the disaster took place, Sept. 14.
Committee members say they do not expect justice will be delivered by a court with a judge presiding, and plan to create their own court of law on Oct. 18 where a jury of 50 citizens will review the case, the excessive force used by police to evict residents, and the role of the government in the redevelopment project.
Last week(9.25) Yonhap reported following:
The labor union of Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Co., elected today Lee Kyung-hun, a moderate figure, as its new leader in a tightly contested race, company and union officials said, signaling a change in the body's often militant approach.
Lee Kyung-hun, who sought to represent centrist and pragmatic forces in the Hyundai Motor union while vowing to improve employee welfare, won 52.56 percent of 40,288 votes cast, defeating rival candidate Kwon O-il, who grabbed 46.98 percent of the votes, said the officials.
Throughout his campaign, Kwon had pledged to fight against the government's labor policies.
This is the first time in 15 years that the Hyundai Motor union has elected a moderate figure as its leader.
Lee, 49, focused his campaign on appealing to unionized workers fed-up with the current leadership's anti-government stance under the guidance of the umbrella Korean Metal Workers' Union.
One day later the "left"-liberal Hankyoreh newspaper wrote: "The outcome of Hyundai Motor chapter’s election suggests changes are in store for KMWU, and possibly broader labor movement strategy."
Yesterday Hankyoreh spoke with Chung Kap-deuk (KMWU) about the issue:
(Hyundai Motors) Unions’ decisions to elect moderates as leaders raises questions about South Korean labor movement’s direction
Regarding the new union leadership elections in Hyundai Motors that have taken place this month, Chung Kap-deuk, the chairperson of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU), one of the core unions in the Korea Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU), granted the Hankyoreh an exclusive interview during the evening of Sept. 27 at the KMWU office located in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo neighborhood.
Hankyoreh: What is your opinion about the Hyundai Motor Union’s decision to elect a pragmatic moderate for the first time in nearly 15 years? And, what are KMWU’s thoughts on eliminating the current company-based chapters and reorganizing them into regional chapters?
Chung: “This has proven that the umbrella union’s leadership of its branch unions has been ineffective for the labor movement. It is time for us to re-examine the way we organize and to decide whether we need to adopt some changes.”
This is first time that a core leader in the KCTU expressed the idea that the current operations of the labor movement could be changed.
Hankyoreh: What can you tell us about the proposal for developing an industrial union?
Chung: “If we cannot build a strong industrial union, the labor movement will be unsuccessful and our members will be powerless. Moreover, if we stick to the labor movement’s current strategy of organizing, we may lose in the Kia Motor Union election.”
Hankyoreh: What are your thoughts on the Hyundai Motors Union election of Lee Gyeong-hun, the moderate candidate and winner?
Chung: “The current leadership of the Hyundai Motors Union has been placed in a difficult position, but it has not done much to proactively remedy the situation. We should reflect on the mistakes labor has made and become more flexible. We should put our energy into educating union members in order to better communicate.“
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/379270.html
Related articles:
☞ First moderate S. Korean union head elected in 14 years (Hankyoreh, 9.26)
☞ Hyundai Motor at crossroads ("editorial" by JoongAng Ilbo, 9.26)
Related essay:
Heading to Yongsan
by Hong Se-hwa
Yongsan again? It is still Yongsan, and it must continue to be Yongsan until the day comes. Why is it that I, that we, cannot ever escape from Yongsan?
Every night except Thursday at 7:00 p.m. a group of Catholic priests hold mass in memory of the victims at the scene where the Yongsan tragedy occurred... Perhaps because of the small number of participants, the evening wind feels harsh and chilly as it winds its way through the street by the Namildang Building where the tragedy took place. During my first visit, in what has been a longtime, I heard the roar of Father Moon Jung-hyun, who was presiding over the scene. If just a tenth, or even a hundredth, of the people who came to pay their respects to the late Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan, Roh Moo-hyun or Kim Dae-jung were in attendance here, he cried, the Yongsan problem could be solved. Father Moon then lamented over the fact that in spite of the many intellectuals, cultural figures and journalists talking about Yongsan in the newspapers and other public forums, few have actually come to visit the site.
Is it because it is inconvenient, as some have suggested, that people merely talk about Yongsan and do not visit? People may seek comfort, but humanity typically demands that we accept discomfort. Isn’t what makes us human the fact that we may be able to step away from humanity momentarily for the sake of comfort, but we cannot escape it forever? And those who say they do not attend the masses or services because they have no religion or a different religion are merely presenting convenient excuses. Their reasons stem from somewhere else. Is it not because we have gotten used to thinking of ourselves first, discussing the society that causes these incidents rather than sharing our neighbors’ pain and misfortune? Can I truly say that I am not assuaging my own wounded conscience when I talk about Yongsan, rather than looking unflinchingly at and offering comfort to the grisly wounds that still linger there?
It is also true, however, that a feeling of rage takes precedence over the spirit of sharing in our neighbors’ suffering. Think of Lee Sang-rim, owner of the Hangang Galbi restaurant. On Jan. 18, he ascended the Namildang tower together with his son, who was head of the protest committee against demolition. Lee, a 71-year-old grandfather was deemed an “urban terrorist,” and he burned to death in a suppression operation by a police commando unit not one day after he climbed the tower. Eight months have passed without even a funeral service. No one has taken responsibility. No one is apologizing. The prosecutors have refused to disclose some 3,000 pages of investigation records, claiming that the content is unrelated to the trial. When public authorities arbitrarily make determinations and decisions, this is called absolutism and it is the relic of a bygone era. Yet, a trial is underway now in which the surviving family members sit in the defendants’ box.
The “four major rivers” are not the only victims of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s tsunami. The knife-edge of illiberality is dancing in all areas of labor, education, human rights, media, welfare and civil society. Everyone that is not an ally is an adversary to be overcome through arrest and detention, dismissal and termination, hunting and litigation, monitoring and surveillance. Such is the situation that the targets even include Hope Institute Executive Director Park Won-soon, a creative man whose actions are far from subversive. Bridgeheads of democracy in all areas of society that have been built up with great effort are now collapsing, and it has become almost beyond people’s capacity to guard and preserve their sectors. This is likely another reason we see so few visiting Yongsan.
Yongsan is a self-portrait of our distorted society, the front lines on which we must fight those who oppose democracy and human rights. If we cannot maintain this line, we will be unable to advance in any area. Until the government apologizes, until the 3,000 pages of investigation records are revealed, until at least some measure of comfort is given to the souls of those who lost their lives so horribly and address their family members’ bitterness, we must continue to talk about Yongsan. More than that, we must visit Yongsan. Actions rather than words, bodies rather than mouths. If those of us who met last year in the plaza during the candlelight vigil demonstrations could meet again at Yongsan... What humbled the Lee Myung-bak administration last year was not words, but the power of our candlelight.
Source: Hankyoreh (9.23)
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_opinion/378222.html
Editorial in today's Hankyoreh:
On KCTU and Lee government’s next steps
The Korean Government Employees’ Union (KGEU), the Korean Democracy Government Employees’ Union (KDGEU) and the Court Government Employees’ Union (CGEU) have decided to merge and join the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). An estimated 89.6 percent of the total union membership voted to merge the three unions together, and 68.4 percent voted to join the KCTU. The vote began on Sept. 21 and took place over a period of two days. The voting results stand in defiance of pressure from the Lee administration and the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) that had taken the form of threatening statements prior to the vote. It would not be an overstatement to view the result as an expression of the unionists’ keenly felt need to unify and act in solidarity.
Ultimately, the decision to join the KCTU is more striking than the decision to unify. This is because since the beginning of this year, a significant number of unions have fled the KCTU, and the Lee government’s assault on the KCTU has reached a higher intensity than ever. Why would civil servants, who are viewed as being relatively conservative, join the KCTU? Perhaps the main reason is opposition against the current government’s openly anti-union policies, and among those, the pressure for structural adjustment that disproportionately affects civil servants. The current ruling government has pushed civil servants into a corner while promoting business efficiency, as if the government was managing a corporation and could neglect the public nature of government bodies. One could easily predict that the unhappiness and hostility towards this trend would be greater among lower-ranking civil servants.
The Lee government, however, does not appear to be at all ready to reflect on the significance of the government employees’ decision to join the KCTU. Instead, the Lee administration and GNP fired off an assortment of threatening statements prior to the vote. They even heaped scorn on the civil servant unions and said they could become an organ of the KCTU leadership if they joined the umbrella union. There has been no change in the attitude of the Lee government since the results of the vote came in. Yesterday, related ministers, including the Minister of Public Administration and Security, issued a joint statement attacking the KCTU and civil servant unions. They did not hesitate to make statements aimed at causing internal fissures in the union by claiming concern that the many civil servants who had engaged in union activity in good faith would be hurt by the vote’s results. The government’s action certainly does not legitimate their right to speak about rational labor-management relations through dialogue and compromise. This is not an attitude that would have been unless its true goal is to render the unions powerless. The Lee government should reflect on its actions in order to appropriately determine who is responsible for the continuing deterioration in labor-management relations.
Meanwhile, we hope that the KCTU uses the government employees’ unions’ votes to merge and come under its umbrella as an opportunity to reflect. It must not forget that a confederation that seeks to create a world in which the laborer becomes an owner must facilitate a situation where a member organization is also an owner.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/378456.html
A collection of related articles you'll find here (LabourStart)!
Well, the plan to "redevelop" (i.e. to demolish!) Pimatgol isn't new... But contrary to the present situation, almost five years ago there has been a fierce resistance against the then planned "redevelopment" excess.
Here you can read a leaflet (directed especially to "foreigners" and tourists in Seoul), written five years ago by resisting tenants and ETU-MB (the predecessor organization of MTU) activists:
THE DEMANDS OF ACTIVISTS WHO ARE DEFENDING THEIR BASIS OF EXISTENCE IN CENTRAL SEOUL/CHEONGJIN-DONG
1. Tenants have lost their rights and are now fighting against the Chief of Jongno-gu (District) Office who has illegally allowed the removal of their homes without offering any alternative.
2. We are fighting to restore our right to exist and denounce the Jongno-gu Government Office Chief for destroying 600 years of traditional Korean history.
3. We are encamped in protest against having been evicted, without any redress, by the Jongno-gu Government Office. We denounce the construction company. We are fighting for a place to live.
4. We are shopkeepers and restaurant carriers. We are encamped in protest to struggle to restore our right to stay in and protect the traditional Pi Mat Gol area from destruction.
5. Cheongjin area no 6, a part of Jongno-gu, tenants are encamped in a struggle to restore our right to exist.
The Back ground
Since several years we knew about plans to "develop" the area between Jong-no and Jongno-gu Office. Here the Le Meilleur Construction Co. wants to build a huge sky scraper, just for expensive shops, restaurants, exclusive apartments for to sell, private clinics and for financial business.
But this plan will destroy the basis of existence of hundreds of families here, who are/were living and working here partly since generations.
Because of the fact that, if the plan will be reality, we'll lose everything, from the beginning we were opposing that plans.
Last year in a mysterious "accident" several buildings, located directly on Jong-no (avenue), were nearly complete destroyed (eyewitnesses said it was looking like someone was throwing a hand grenade in the shop, or a car was just crashing inside).
Just some days later the remaining houses were tearing down and instead a so called huge model house (a model part for the to-build sky scraper) was erected.
Later piece for piece the tenants of the houses/shops witch were located behind the buildings (witch were destroyed in the beginning) were driven out, sometimes by using violence. For that the construction company is hiring hundreds of criminal gangs to drive the people out off their homes/work places. Often the gangs are backed by large units of the infamous riot cops to manage their "job".
On November 5 ETU-MB (the migrant workers' trade union) reported: "Yesterday 10:35 in the morning about 100 criminal gangsters, hired by the not less criminal Le Meilleur Construction (LMC) Co., district government officers backed by riot cops raided Cheongjin-dong area in Jongno-gu (district). The people who carried on the restaurant (when you come from Kyobo B/D on the left side on Jong-no, opposite of LG 25 “super” market) were forced to leave. With this criminal act LMC destroyed the basis of existence for some families. But not just that, they robed the activists who defend their homes their office, because it was located in the second floor of the building."
Now since 29 days we are in a daily 24 hours sit-in strike in front of Jongno-gu Office to protest against the using of terror against us. We are no criminals - we just are defending our basis of existence! And we are not only fighting ourselves – we are fighting also for our neighbors and at least for the future of the center of our city.
The history of PiMatGol
Since hundreds of years Jong-no was the main avenue in the Korean capital. But all the “ordinary” people who were walking there, every time when some one from the nearby king palace (Gyeongbok-gung) were passing the street, all the “ordinary” people had to bow on the street until the person went. So 600 years ago the people started to build the narrow lanes behind the first line of buildings located on Jong-no to avoid bowing once per hour. So in fact PiMatGol is a result of a kind of resistance against the rulers.
Nowadays' motto of Jongno-gu Office: “Human, natural…” – it’s just a bad joke. Especially when you see the English web site, where they just make advertisement with the great history, what they already planned to destroy.
The Alternative Housing Defense Committee
(Nat'l Federation Against House Demolition)
Jongno-gu, Cheongjin 6-dong
2004.12.2
The conservative (or rather reactionary!!) daily newspaper JoongAng Ilbo and the "left"-liberal Hankyoreh published today pieces on the current situation in the KCTU...
Editorial by JoongAng Ilbo:
Chaos within KCTU
The labor union of Ssangyong Motors has confirmed its intent to leave the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the second largest umbrella trade union in the country.
An overwhelming majority of the company’s workers voted for a resolution yesterday to withdraw from the national trade organization.
In the process, the union became the first of Korea’s automobile unions to officially vow to sever relations with the powerful KCTU.
Industrial trade unions have shown some signs of pending collapse in recent years, and this is the latest example of that trend.
There’s a primary reason behind it: The KCTU has focused its efforts on waging a political war rather than promoting the protection of workers’ rights and interests.
So the erosion of the organization’s member base should be expected, as union members don’t feel that their needs are being met.
At the same time, it is extremely deplorable that the KCTU is bullying members that are poised to withdraw from the organization, hoping to coerce them into staying. Along these lines, the umbrella trade union is resorting to immature actions, such as threatening to impose disciplinary measures on unions and members considering a defection.
The KCTU should ponder the essence of the problem - its own actions, rather than that of its members - before browbeating other labor unions. The current crisis facing the umbrella trade union derives from the fact that it is stocked with leaders who espouse left-leaning political ideologies.
If the organization continues to ignore this rapidly growing crisis and continues to overlook changes in public opinion, it will certainly lead to self-destruction.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2909835
Editorial by Hankyoreh:
Heeding potential death knell for labor movement
The Ssangyong Motors labor union convened a general assembly meeting yesterday and voted to leave the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). This vote comes just one month after a compromise was struck between union and management, and follows a fierce battle waged over mass layoffs. First, we must guard against focusing on the hard line of the KCTU during the Ssangyong Motors strike, for it would only serve to highlight labor’s problems while obscuring mistakes made by the company and government, which cannot avoid taking responsibility for driving the Ssangyong strike to an extreme. If fault is found with the union’s hard-line, then criticism for the company’s and government’s refusal to compromise must also follow.
Although labor and management previously worked together to save the company through their dramatic compromise, since the strike, the situation has taken a completely different direction. Just two days after the compromise, 94 unionists who participated in the strike were laid off or given vacation notices. It has been said that union leaders are being blocked from entering the factory. Yesterday’s general assembly took place with the union leadership in virtual collapse. With the existing union leadership raising procedural issues concerning the vote, controversy surrounding the validity of the decision is expected.
Still, to overlook the importance of this decision that had the support of many unionists would be a mistake. We must seriously consider the significance of their decision. The leaders of the general assembly claim the only way to save Ssangyong Motors is to leave the KCTU. They believe Ssangyong Motors has been caught in a political struggle led by the KCTU and Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU).
Criticisms have also been voiced towards KCTU and Korean Metal Workers’ Union for completely different reasons. Criticism that the umbrella unions failed to help resolve the situation or properly support the workers’ struggle is being heard among those who actively participated in the Ssangyong strike or supported it. In addition, there is also criticism that the umbrella union has been on the sidelines as a spectator since the end of the strike. The background stories and reasons may differ, but the criticisms are all similar in their reflection of distrust of the umbrella union.
Accordingly, labor leadership should seriously reflect upon why it is on the receiving end of distrust and criticism from unionists who participate in the labor struggle. Of course, the umbrella union must consider not only the issues of individual workplaces, but also issues being raised throughout the labor sector. Since labor issues closely relate to politics and the economy, a political response is also required. The basis of the labor movement lies in the trust and support of unionists. Labor must ruminate over the fact that a labor movement marked by distrust from laborers is as good as dead.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/375764.html
With a kind of outspoken gratification today's (f******)K. Times is reporting following:
Ssangyong Union Severs Ties With Progressive Trade Union
Unionists at Ssangyong Motor, the country's smallest carmaker, have voted to bolt from an anti-government [sic!] umbrella union.
About 73 percent of a total of 700 eligible voters, including absentees, favored the disaffiliation from the progressive Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). Ssangyong is the first carmaker in Korea to do so.
Some union leaders claimed the voting was invalid because of technical issues, but the majority of its members have accepted the result.
"When labor disputes erupted, KCTU encouraged us to fight against management rather than put concerted efforts to find a peaceful breakthrough," a Ssangyong worker said. "We are fed up with that."
Another member said, "During my 25 years working at this company, KCTU has paid little attention to the well-being of its members. Instead, it has only sought its own interests."
The withdrawal will deal a blow to KCTU's leadership, which has frequently drawn public criticism for its confrontational approaches, as it is highly likely that other unions will follow suit.
In July, the nation's largest telephony carrier, KT, dissociated itself from the labor union. The move came after several other small-size unions severed their ties with the umbrella organization.
KT was the KCTU's third largest member with 28,000 members, following automakers Hyundai and Kia.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/09/113_51506.html
Related article:
☞ Ssangyong workers vote to quit umbrella union (JoongAng Ilbo)
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