2251개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Comrade "Hong Gil-dong in the Forest"(rev. video activist) interviews comrade "Dope"(activist/DJ, Yongsan Candlelight Media Center/Media Redevelopment Action Radio):
2009.6.9 , 행동하는 라디오 언론재개발 .. 진행자 돕헤드 동지 인터뷰
Already three days ago I supposed that - although the SsangYong strike ended last Thursday - the struggle isn't over yet, because now the ruling class will retaliate...
And the following report in today's Hankyoreh - unfortunately - validates my presumption:
Police arrest 64 Ssangyong Motors union members
Some 64 members of the Ssangyong Motors labor union have been arrested following their participation in the recent sit-in strike at the company’s Pyeongtaek factory, including all of the core union leaders and a number of workers.
Han Sang-kyun, the head of the Ssangyong Motors chapter of KMWU,
was arrested before y'day(8.10)
Prosecutors and police have even raised the specter of communism during the investigation, claiming, “Outside forces with a strongly pro-communist character were involved in the strike.” (*) In response to this hardline response by prosecutors and police, labor is warning that another strike similar to the one at Ssangyong’s Pyeongtaek factory could result from the administration’s public security witch-hunt that destroys the spirit of labor-management consensus.
Judges Jeong U-yeong and Jeong Ha-jeong of the Pyeongtaek branch of Suwon District Court issued arrest warrants Tuesday morning for 38 of the 42 workers for whom warrants were requested for violating the Law on Punishment of Violent Acts, obstructing the performance of official duties, and obstructing operations. The two judges cited sufficient grounds for criminal charges and flight risk as reasons for issuing the warrants for the workers, including one for Han Sang-kyun, the head of the Ssangyong Motors chapter of the Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU). Han and the other workers are also being investigated for acts of violence against police officers and the company’s security personnel during the occupation of the factory from May 21 to August 6, and for using illegal weapons such as Molotov cocktails and air rifles.
These arrests, together with the 26 workers that had previously been detained, bring the total number of detainees in connection with the Ssangyong Motors strike up to 64. This is the largest number of detentions since police brought in 58 union members following the Posco union’s sit-in at the Posco headquarters in Pohang in May 2006. It also appears likely to mark the biggest public security incident in 12 years, if the 1997 arrest of 195 individuals at the inauguration of the South Korean Federation of University Student Councils (Hanchongryun) is included. Police announced that they had received warrants Tuesday for the arrest of two additional individuals connected with the union, and that they had requested that a total of 68 people report in, of which 12 are individuals who are unaffiliated with the union.
As of Sunday, prosecutors have also announced that “outside forces with a strongly pro-communist character” were involved in the Ssangyong Motors strike, including individuals with a prior history of violating the National Security Law. “We confiscated ideological documents and illegal weaponry, and uncovered an attempt to establish a military committee,” prosecutors reported. However, the security investigation division of the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, which actually conducted the investigation of the case, was unable to apply charges of violating the National Security Law against any of the individuals. This suggests that baseless charges of communist sympathies have been pinned on workers who waged a strike against large-scale layoffs.
Observers are also commenting on the fact that prosecutors and police have been focusing on the actions of the union while ignoring the illegal and violent acts perpetrated by the company and the police. There has been no mention of an apology from police, let alone criminal punishment, for the indiscriminate assaults on fallen union members during their August 6 entry into the factory. Moreover, although company employees were booked without detention, none have been arrested for attacking members of civic groups with pieces of wood in front of the factory‘s main gate on August 5 and 6. Police are also doing nothing about the fact that the company violated the Fire Services Act by cutting off electricity and water for fire hydrants, violated the Emergency Medical Service Act by preventing medical personnel from entering or exiting the occupied factory, and violated basic human rights by blocking individuals from bringing the workers water and food.
Civic groups and labor organizations are unanimous in criticizing the hardline and anti-labor stance of the prosecutors and police and accusing them of ignoring the spirit of compromise between labor and management. At a press conference Sunday, a representative of the Korean Metal Workers’ Union, to which the Ssangyong union belongs, said that the law was being “applied in a biased manner against labor union officials and people who opposed layoffs, while not a single arrest has been made for the excessive force and illegal and violent acts of police officers or for acts of brutality on the part of the company‘s security personnel”
“If the administration goes against the people’s desire for mutual benefits of labor and management, a fierce struggle is inevitable,” the union claimed.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/370801.html
* Well, I already feared such a development!! But more about it later..
1.) As it is already known: last Thursday(8.06), after 77 days of strike, occupation and partly bloody battles between the striking workers and thousands of attacking riot cops (incl. SWAT/anti-terror units) and private "security guards" the "conflict" between SsangYong Motors and the labour union (KMWU/SsangYong Branch) ended without further bloodshed...
But ultimately the struggle isn't over yet! Because now - surprise, surprise!! - the ruling class will retaliate (*), i.e. they will try to take "legal action" against the former strikers to punish as many as possible, as hard as possible!
* If the S.K. and int'l labour and solidarity movement can't defeat their plan!!
2.) Last Friday(8.07) KCTU published following about the...
Agreement (that) was Reached at Ssangyong Motors
Dear Colleagues,
Solidarity Greetings from KCTU!
On Thursday(August 6th), agreement was reached between Ssangyong Motors management and workers. KMWU Ssangyong Motors Branch brought a 77-day sit-in strike to an end. The main contents of the agreement are as follows.
-> Union members who are affected by the layoffs, are allowed to make a choice of unpaid leave, transfers to sales positions, transfers to spin-offs, or voluntary resignation. 48 % of restructured people are being given unpaid leave or are being transferred to sales positions, and 52 % are voluntarily resigning or shifting to spin-offs. (However, what is the '100%' out of which the ratio is applied is subject to additional negotiations for details.)
-> After one year, depending on production levels, workers on unpaid leave are allowed to engage in job rotation and 2-day work shift system will be implemented. Workers who are transferred into sales positions will be provided with wages of 500,000 Won per month for one year.
-> Workers who take an unpaid leave, transfer to sales positions or voluntarily retire during this restructuring period will be fairly reinstated or rehired if a demand for new workers arises in the future as a result of an improvement in the company’s financial situation.
-> An additional two-month voluntary retirement allowance will be paid to workers taking unpaid leave or retiring voluntarily, while livelihood security support, such as job placement, will be provided in cooperation with central and local governments and cooperating firms.
-> The management will withdraw criminal proceedings against the trade union and its members in order to encourage good willingness for the revival of Ssangyong Motors. Civil liability will be also called off when the company’s revival plan is approved.
As for the KCTU’s position on the agreement, please see the below statement. But at this moment, we would like to point out that 96 strikers have been jailed, immediately transported from the sit-in strike to the police jail. We are very concerned that arrested people will be facing serious prison sentences and the union will face massive legal fees. In this regard, we are kindly requesting you to keep your eyes on this case continuously. We will keep you informed on any development of Ssangyong workers who are taken into custody.
Finally, we would like to emphasize that international solidarity and pressure contributed enormously to bring a peaceful settlement of the dispute. We would like to extend upmost appreciation for your great support and solidarity for the Ssangyong Motors Workers.
In Solidarity,
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU)
**********
[Attached]
KCTU Statement on Agreement between Ssangyong Motors Management and Workers
The Struggle against Layoffs will Continue!
The management and trade union of Ssangyong Motors held their final round of talks today (6th August) and came to an agreement. The KCTU respects the decisions of KMWU Ssangyong Motors Branch, of coming to an agreement through dialogue to prevent further catastrophe. We firmly reaffirm that the inhumane and potentially deadly actions taken by police and management during the course of the strike are acts that cannot be condoned. Innocent workers are still being made to bear the brunt of this economic crisis and the poorly-conceived sell-off of companies to foreign capital. If these circumstances persist, the KCTU warns that the struggle against unjust dismissals can re-spark anytime, anywhere.
The struggle of KMWU Ssangyong Motors Branch is the result of bad contradictory economic policies. The management and government initially caused and then precipitated the crisis. They had continuously looked for ways to bash the union. Workers were forced through mass dismissals to pay for bad management practices. The government had pushed ahead with the sell-off of Ssangyong Motors to Shanghai Motors, which then withdrew after profiteering, driving Ssangyong to bankruptcy. Furthermore, we witnessed the worst forms of human rights violations such as cutting off the electricity, water and medicine, and the clashes in front of the plant was also very serious. Thus, the lesson to be learnt from this crisis is that the government must revise its substandard economic and labour policies while the management must do away with its union-bashing attitude and practices such as refusing to recognize the trade union as a dialogue partner.
The agreement between Ssangyong Motor labour and management will not automatically lead to normalization of production. The forthcoming revival process of Ssangyong Motors may entail more confrontation. Both government and management must realize that if they maintain their present mindset, the tragedy can be repeated. The management must acknowledge the errors that it had made, and accordingly sincerely reflect upon their conduct as well as show their will for improvement. The government should turn away from their attitude of instigating destructive government-labour and management-labour relations, including its excessive criminal punishment for legitimate union activities. Furthermore, the government should come up with responsible measures such as injecting needed government aid into the ailing company. Both the government and management must not forget that the reason Ssangyong Motors struggle went beyond a ‘managerial’ to become a ‘political’ issue, blocking amicable settlement, was precisely because of their negative approach.
The KCTU will not stop its struggles against anti-labour policies of the Lee Myung Bak government, and will not stand by complacently should Ssangyong Motors continue its union-bashing practices as shown during the recent crisis. We express sincere gratitude to our members and all citizens who had exerted tremendous effort into settling the crisis, and resolve to strive more strongly to attain labour rights of 15 million workers of South Korea.
Finally, the KCTU hopes that the souls of Ssangyong Motors workers and family members who had lost their very lives in the course of these mass redundancy dismissals may rest in peace and conveys deep condolences to the bereaved.
6th August, 2009
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU)
http://kctu.org/ActionAlerts/3754
Update (Thursday, 8.06, 10:00 a.m. CET):
"Ssangyong's fired workers end plant occupation", as today's Yonhap reports.
While today(8.05) the cops once again failed to conquer the entire SsangYong plant (for more about the latest developments please check out LabourStart, where you find the possibly bulkiest collection of news reports about the S.K. class struggle) the situation at the front line is approaching a very critical point...
The current balance of power at the front line: 4,000 riot cops, incl. special forces(SWAT/anti-terror units) and additional at least 2,000 privat "security guards" (i.e. organized criminals, hired by the SsangYong management) are confronting/attacking between 500 and 600 striking workers...
In this situation only a strong and uncompromising MASSIVE PUBLIC PROTEST (movement) can protect the striking workers and prevent a disater (i.e. must force the SYM management back to the negotiation table)!
Otherwise - when the "conflict" will be "settled" on the battlefield the striking workers will end like that..
..or possibly even worse!
Many activists but also relatives of the striking workers are fearing already a "remake" of the Yongsan Massacre, but this time with more fatalities!!
Related:
☞ "Photo News" from today's battle
Latest news from the "battlefield" in Pyeongtaek:
Since the early morning hundreds of riot cops and special forces are trying to conquer (until now unsuccessfully) the occupied paint shop in the SsangYong Motor plant. "It can be said that the final operations have essentially begun.", as a riot cop officer stated.
Until the late evening at least 50 striking workers were injured during the attacks by the cops and "security guards" (i.e. mobsters hired by SsangYong).
Meanwhile family members of the striking workers asked the National Human Rights Commission to stop the raid, saying it could lead to a bloodbath.
Today's Hankyoreh has a report about the current situation in the occupied paint shop:
Police resume spraying tear gas on striking workers
Since the rupture of negotiations between Ssangyong Motors labor and management, the sense of tension inside the paint shop that has served as the site of the strike is on the rise. An impending police raid is expected and some of the workers are preparing to leave the site, however, an estimated 600 workers are pledging stay regardless of the consequences...
The company announced that since early Sunday morning, the 42nd day of the strike and the day talks fell apart, a total of 92 unionists have left the site.
The company also turned off electricity to the paint shop on Sunday, after having already suspended food delivery on July 17, and water and gas supplies on July 20.
The paint shop, with its food, water, gas and now electricity suspended is standing in front of a certain storm. Those who left the company and those that remain, their families, creditors and police, are looking at the place with unease.
Han Sang-gyun, the Ssangyong Motors chapter head of the Korean Metal Workers Union met with unionists at several locations throughout the plant Monday. He said the real intention of the company was to kill the union. At 11:00 a.m. orange bags filled with tearing agents (*) once again began falling from helicopters onto the paint shop from above. Someone called out, “Are we to be treated as weeds that require pesticide?” Ever since the electricity was shut off, the unionists have used butane gas to cook rice to eat rice balls. The air conditioning has been shut off too, so the inside of the paint shop is sweltering with a few lit candles placed here and there. The entire site is full of flammable materials like paint thinner and the safety of the workers appears unstable.
Clashes with the company have recommenced. Unionists fired projectiles using slingshots as company security officers attempted to remove a metal barricade set up by the unionists near the paint shop.
The families of these “surviving workers” are overcome with concern. A member of the group, “Wives Who Love Ssangyong Motors,” expressed her frustration and said, “It seems the union’s unreasonableness and the company’s announcement of a breakdown in talks have led us to this, and the order from the company for employees to prepare to enter the factory has made us uneasy. Meanwhile, this asshole’s administration is just standing by as so many people are struggling...”
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/369377.html
* Dichloromethane, contained in the tearing agent, is a hazardous material that is listed as a carcinogen by both Korea’s Industrial Safety and Health Law and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The police claim it is not harmful, but this contradicts the agent’s level three (out of five) classification as a carcinogenic material by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Moreover, due to the suspension of the water supply, the workers are unable to wash off the spray once they come into contact with it. Nevertheless, police continue to spray this harmful material, as if to suggest that they do not care if the workers get sick or die.
Related articles:
☞ Police, laid-off workers clash at occupied Ssangyong facility (Yonhap)
Well, here you can check out today's developments in Pyeongtaek, summarized by KMWU-Ssangyong Branch.
And finally a very "beautiful" example of bourgeois rabble-rousing you can see here:
☞ 100 strikers leave Ssangyong factory after talks collapse (JoongAng Ilbo)
LET'S BRING WATER TO THE SSANGYONG WORKERS!
Video produced by Yongsan Candlelight Media Center:
Let's bring water to the Ssangyong workers! Yongsan is on the way!
Almost every day widowed families and even 80-year old grannies get hurt and beaten by thugs and police.... to the accompanying words of Rev. Moon Jeong-hyeon, watch the sisters, supporting families and comrades taking water bottles to bring to Ssangyong in Pyeongtaek!
It has been produced with a comic effect by adding things like animation, yet it has a sharp sting.
With Yongsan willing to give such strong support and solidarity, the Ssangyong struggle must win! Tu-jaeng! (fight on!)
용산 촛불미디어 제작 영상:
물을 주러 갑시다!! .. 용산도 떴습니다!!
매일마다 짭새와 용역에 의해 몸을 다쳐 유가족, 또 팔순 할머니까지 얼굴부상이지만
문정현 신부님 목소리에 맞춰 함께 수녀님, 유가족, 연대단위들이 물통을 질머쥐고 평택 쌍용차로 향하는 모습!
애니메이션 등으로 코믹하게 제작했지만 웬지 코끝이 찡해집니다!!
용산이 이처럼 응원하고 연대 마음을 전하니 "쌍차 투쟁" 반드시 승리할 겁니다!! - 투쟁!! -
Related:
☞ Urgent appeal from Ssangyong Motor workers (KCTU, 7.29)
Latest news from the "frontline":
☞ S.Korea police step up siege of troubled car plant (AFP, 8.03)
☞ Countdown Begun for Ssangyong Liquidation (K. Times, 8.03)
☞ Ssangyong seek to evict fired workers (Korea Herald, 8.03)
Latest news from the negotiation front in Pyeongtaek:
Ssangyong says talks with union have collapsed
While the union said, "We cannot tolerate dismissal of any of the 700 workers, who have struggled together for over two months.", the SYM management 'proposed': "We will guarantee 390 jobs.."
The union gave the management until 10 a.m. tomorrow to consider its demands once again, but the company already said that further negotiations will not happen!
According to AP "The union released a statement calling the management's proposal unacceptable and vowing to stage a 'last-minute struggle.' It did not elaborate."
And only yesterday DLP's Kang Ki-kap acted cool and said: "I am certain the negotiations will turn out well!"... ("Well" - but for whom??)
Related articles:
☞ Ssangyong Faces Liquidation After Labor Talks Collapse (K. Times, 8.02)
☞ Labor talks at S.Korea's Ssangyong Motor break off (AP, 8.02)
☞ Tent camp grows outside Ssangyong Motors plant (Hankyoreh, 8.01)
So, this means (very likely) that...
THE STRUGGLE GOES ON!!
내일 아침 9시! 평택공장 앞으로 집결해주십시오!
[7.29] KCTU's Solidarity Demo in Pyeongtaek
Produced by Video Activist comrade "Hong Gil-dong.."
A collection of photos from the same "event" you can see here!
Is a "Victory" for the Striking Workers Within Reach?
Today in the morning(CET) al-Jazeera reported that Talks on to end SsangYong strike were resumed..
And just a short while ago Korea Times wrote that a Breakthrough Expected in Ssangyong Negotiations...
Related articles:
☞ Ssangyong workers and managers sit down to talk (JoongAng Ilbo)
☞ Ssangyong Motors management and labor resume negotiations (Hankyoreh)
1. Today's (bourgeois) Korea Times has following depressing report about the current horrible situation(I presumed such a development already one week ago!!) - caused by special warfare, conducted by the cops since almost 10 days - in the occupied SsangYong plant:
Ssangyong Motor Factory Turning Into 'Refugee Camp'
The fired workers, who have occupied the paint shop of a Ssangyong Motor factory for 68 days, are living in a dismal conditions as they have been denied water and food for about a week.
Visitors to the building, including doctors and medical staff said the situation will turn worse as dozens are already injured and around 10 occupants are suffering from depression.
"It's like a refugee camp," said Baek Nam-joon, a member of a humanitarian doctors' association. "Protesters have been living in a hell-like environment."
Baek said a sour, acid smell is lingering inside the building following days of tear-gas spraying by police helicopters.
"It was hard to breathe," he said. Many of them are exposed to dehydration as drinking water was drying up. Doctors estimated that 200 were injured.
"Six of them need an immediate surgery or medical care. Many have severe injuries, including broken ribs or joints incurred during clashes with riot police."
According to Baek, they are given one or two rice balls per day. "Toilets are in dismal condition as the water supply has been cut off."
Hundreds of protesters have complained of a lack of sleep, he said.
"They sleep just two or three hours a day as police helicopters above the building generate unbearable noise."
Lee Chang-geun, spokesman for the unionized protesters, said noise from helicopters and speakers installed nearby the building was adding to the terrible conditions. "We have no food, no water and no sleep."
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/07/113_49306.html
2. Today KCTU's solidarity demo (for the SsangYong strike) took place in Pyeongtaek. About 3,000 activists demanded first and foremost humanitarian aid for the besieged strikers...
...but (surprise, surprise!!) they were attacked by large units of riot cops, using water cannons and "tear gas bombs" dropped from helicopters.
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