2248개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
Metalworkers union’s embrace of migrant workers
(Hankyoreh, 10.19/금속노조의 이주노동자 껴안기)
The metalworkers union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU, Minju Nochong) has decided to include migrant laborers as union members. This is something that gets your attention. Yesterday, the union’s central committee decided to conduct a comprehensive field study of migrant workers in workplaces under KCTU membership. The idea is to look into their pay and other working conditions, and see what obstacles they face in joining unions. The metalworkers union has already changed its organizational rules to allow migrant workers to join as full members, and allot a certain ratio of union positions to them.
Having migrant workers be part of the union will not only lead to improvements in the poor working conditions they face, but will also play a big role in building up the union’s negotiating power. The case of the union branch at Samu Precision Industries is a good example of how embracing migrant workers helps both Korean and migrant workers. The company had only 41 Korean union members. However, the place became a “union shop” in July, meaning that everyone becomes a member of the union when they become employees, which led to 22 migrant laborers becoming members of the union. This in turn led to significant improvements in the conditions faced by migrant workers there, and they came to enjoy more stable employment. The union’s negotiating power grew a lot as well when everyone became members.
Migrant workers in Korea still do not have the right to form labor unions. In 2005, approximately one hundred migrant workers in the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon region filed the paperwork for forming a regional union, but the Ministry of Labor rejected their application. A court later sided with the workers, but the ministry has appealed and the case is awaiting a final decision from the Supreme Court. Even if they get a legal regional union, however, it will be hard for them to operate at and around actual worksites. This is why it is so significant that a union specific to an industry is trying to directly embrace migrant workers.
There are 480,000 migrant laborers working in our country right now, 3.2 percent of all paid laborers. Before you even realized it, their numbers have grown to the point where they are a pillar of our economy. Treating them in a manner consistent with internationally and universally recognized labor norms is important not only in terms of civil rights, but something also needed to make for more efficient labor. There remain some workers who have a negative view of migrant laborers, saying they are stealing jobs. However, the work that is actually being done is different, so the competition is not serious and it should be remembered that the poor treatment they receive is a factor that works against the pay levels of Korean workers. Also, it is time that employers, for their part, be proactive about improving treatment for migrant workers, as a way to increase productivity.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/244190.html
Related:
☞ 이주노동자와 함께…산별노조 문 ‘활짝’ (한겨레, 10.18)
☞ 전국금속노동조합
On October 8, 1967 the Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara was captured in the Bolivian jungle by special army forces and CIA agents. The following day he was executed.
Now - 40 years - later he's an icon - or better said THE icon - for all kinds of "protest" - from the left opposition in HongKong, peaceniks in Seoul and Tel Aviv, to (radical islamic) holy warriors in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon, nationalists in Spain and France to German neo-nazis. Even the Iranian ruling clerical-fascists were/are trying to use Che as an 'hero for the struggle against communism': "..Che's daughters were invited by an Iranian university just for them to learn he was being hailed as an anti-communist religious leader" (A. Times, 10.9).
And last but not least, Che's main enemy, the international Capitalism, is using him for daily advertisement/commercials for their f.. products/way of life..
Oops, that's just the f.. reality (sorry)!
Anyway.. please check out:
☞ Che lives (Asia Times/HK)
☞ Che Guevara remains a powerful image of protest (Guardian, pictures)
☞ Life, Death and Iconization of an Revolutionary (pics.. with German subtitles)
☞ The Curse Of Che Guevara (Der Spiegel)
For more please read:
☞ Che Guevara (wiki)
☞ 에르네스토 체 게바라 (바람구두..)
...
Since last Friday political/human right groups/activists in Seoul were/are protesting against the bloody oppression of the Democracy Movement by the junta in Burma. Friday and Sat. the activists gathered near Gwanghwamun in downtown Seoul and y'day Burmese migrant workers and their Korean supporters demonstrated in front of the embassy of "Myanmar" (i.e. Burma):
For more detailed reports please check out:
☞ "Slideshow".. (..by OhmyNews)
☞ [9월 29일]버마.. 촛불 집회 ("All..)
☞ [9월 30일]버마 대사관 앞 긴급 항의 집회 (..Together"/다함께)
☞ "BURMA FREE"...버마 대사관으로 간 버마 이주노동자들 (VoP)
☞ Myanmar's Pro-Democracy Movement Gets Support (K. Times)
☞ [9월 30일, 인천/부평역] 버마.. 촛불집회 (다함께)
Related:
☞ Activists call for nationwide general strike (Newsweek)
☞ Cracks emerge in Myanmar military unity (Asia Times/HK)
☞ International Bloggers' Day for Burma on the 4th of October
For some more infos about the current situation in Burma:
☞ Live blog: latest developments
Germany: A New Kind of Class Struggle..
The workers of occupied bicycle factory in the Thuringian Nordhausen take up production in self-management again
The 135 colleagues of the bicycle factory Bike Systems GmbH in the Thuringian Nordhausen, who keep the factory occupied since 10th of July 2007, decided to resume the production of bicycles in self-management. For this aim 1,800 binding orders on bicycles must be received till 2nd of October. So the collegues are working together with the anarcho-syndicalist union FAU (Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union – Free Workers-Union), which formed for this campaign the internetpage www.strike-bike.de.
Since more than two month the staff keep the factory in the south of Harz Mountains in three shifts occupied. They want to prevent the definite dismantling and sale of the factory. The file for bankruptcy from 10th of august is against long odds: The factory is exploited and ran down, the hall was emptied except for the coating line. The staff receives unemployment compensation and hopes for a new concept and a new investor.
The „Strike Bike“ - Solidarity-Bikes from Nordhausen
In the time of occupation and in the wake of discussions during the visits of solidary people, the colleagues of the factory developed the idea to initially take up the production in self-management for a short time. Because it's not the point to only prevent the evacuation of the last machines and to wait for a new investor, the idea of an own ”Strike-Bike“ meet with more and more response. Now the opportunity arises to show the ability to develop an own concept and to self-manage production and distribution.
If it goes well to collect 1,800 advance orders for the bicycles produced in self-direction, we spread solidary ideas and bolster the colleagues in similar situations, not to let themselves easily being restructured to zero. By whomsoever!
The staff gets assistancy by the solidary members of anarcho-syndicalist union Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union (Free workers-union), which will become active in whole germany to spread the knowledge of the struggle of the bycicle-workers and to support the sale of the „Strike-Bike“.
Strike banner in front of the occupied factory
("Solidarity bicycle, produced in the occupied factory")
For more please check out:
☞ Production from the Occupied Factory
☞ "Propaganda Solidarity Music Video"
Already y'day (9.19) Yonhap reported that the "South Koreans are becoming increasingly negative toward labor unions largely because of their militant and sometimes violent way of pushing through their demand for pay raises and other benefits.." (yeah, "don't believe the hype"!!).
Now - today - the "left"-liberal Hankyoreh published following article about the same issue:
S. Korea’s labor movement on the decline after 20 years
Though expectations on unions are high, union membership has fallen and public opinion is increasingly negative
How has South Korea’s labor movement changed over the past two decades? A forum marking the 19th anniversary of the Korea Labor Institute and held on Sept. 19 looked at a variety of aspects of the labor movement in an attempt to answer this and other questions.
The outcome of an analysis conducted at the forum revealed that the union membership rate has fallen and an increasing number of people have negative opinions about union activities, demanding that unions concentrate on protecting the rights of contract-based workers and other underprivileged colleagues, instead of excessively pursuing material gains. Due to the instability in the job market, income disparity is greater than it was in the early 1980s and the number of poor laborers who appeared after the financial crisis in 1997 has also increased.
Korean people have increasingly expressed their objection to the labor movement by remaining silent, Lee Soo-bong, the policy coordinator for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, said at the forum. Figures confirmed the sense of crisis.
At the forum, Oh Gae-taek, a Korea Labor Institute researcher, unveiled a survey of 2,000 people, which was conducted to see how they view the nation’s labor activities. Of those polled, 16 percent of the respondents thought that strengthened labor activities would contribute to the nation’s economic growth, far less than the 53.3 percent holding this opinion in a similar survey done in 1989. Only 41.3 percent saw labor unions’ demands as just, compared with 67 percent in 1989.
Of note is that only 5.4 percent of those surveyed cited labor unions as the most reliable organizations, far less than civic groups (41 percent), the media (15.2 percent), the government (11.9 percent) and conglomerates (7.2 percent).
Nevertheless, people still have high expectations for labor unions. Of those polled, 34.4 percent wanted labor organizations to play a role in political democratization, while 40.2 percent called for an improvement in social inequality.
In the meantime, the union membership rate has dropped dramatically for the past two decades. The ratio peaked at 18.5 percent at the end of 1987 before it fell to 10.3 percent in 2005.
Cho Sung-jae, a KLI researcher, said, “Following the financial crisis in the late 90s, the number of unionized workers has not changed a lot, but the efforts of labor unions to organize workers have failed to catch up with the increase in the number of salaried workers.”
Data showed that the ratio of workers in the manufacturing sector has decreased from 43.1 percent to 27.6 percent, while that of the service sector surged from 11.9 percent to 30.4 percent.
While the nation has enjoyed rapid income growth due to compressed economic growth from 1987-1996, the income disparity between the haves and have-nots has widened since 2003 as the poorest people took the brunt of high unemployment. The relative poverty ratio among urban households also rose to 10.8 percent in 2006 from 10.2 percent recorded in 1982.
A more serious problem is that the number of underprivileged workers is rapidly increasing. Of them, 59.9 percent are able to work and those working but remaining poor stood at 30.6 percent. This shows that it is more important to provide better-paying jobs rather than decreasing the unemployment rate.
In addition, it is not easy to overcome poverty. According to Lee, of the KCTU, the possibility of irregular workers obtaining regular worker status is 13.8 percent, less than half of the 30.5 percent average in the 15-member European Union.
The nation’s job market has undergone significant change over the last 20 years. The employment rate has decreased most distinctly among young men, according to the Korea Labor Institute. Though young women have been relatively successful in joining the job market, women in their 30s and 40s ranked the lowest in job recruitment rates among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations.
There have also been changes in the wage system. Until 1996, only 5 percent of companies with more than 100 employees adopted the annual salary system. After the financial crisis hit the nation, the ratio surged to 35 percent with one out of five companies providing dividends based on job performance to their workers.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/237750.html
Well, as announced two days ago the struggle of the E.Land/Homever "irregular" workers is (of course!!!) continuing!!
But in the night from yesterday to today (once again) the trade union activists were attacked by large units of the riot cops and at least 56 workers were arrested..
A more detailed article you can read here:
☞ More on the E-Land Struggle (TwoKoreasBlog)
Please watch following documentary video about last night's struggle:
☞ 이랜드 일반노조 비정규 노동자 56명 강제연행 (made by comrade "Hong Gil-dong")
Some more pics you can see here:
☞ [9월 16일] 홈에버 면목점 점거농성장 침탈 (다함께)
Trade unions world-wide are stepping up their solidarity with Korean E.Land workers (UNI, 8.30)
In Turkey, members of UNI Commerce affiliate Tez-Koop-IS have staged a solidarity demonstration for their shop worker colleagues in Korea. The Homever, New Core and Kim's Club workers' trade union has also received material support from the Turkish commerce union, to help them survive and win the long drawn strike.
Trade unions around the globe are stepping up their support for the young Korean shop workers, who are fighting for their jobs in a bitter struggle against retail giant E.Land. The Korean fashion retailer bought Carrefour's hypermarket chain last year, and proceeded to dismiss over 1,000 of its workers during the first months of 2007.
The dismissed workers were supermarket and department store cashiers and sales assistants, mainly young women working on a part-time basis or with time-limited contracts. Through the dismissals, the company tries to escape its obligations to grant permanent contracts to most of them, as required by new labour legislation. Making use of a loophole in the law, E.Land wanted to outsource these functions instead.
From the beginning, this labour conflict has been marked by a close complicity between the employer and the South Korean government. Instead of intervening in the many irregularities that management has been caught for, the authorities have done their best to suppress any trade union action by the E.Land workers. Sit-in strikes have been forcibly ended through riot police interventions with young women workers torn to waiting prison buses and transported to police stations around the Korean capital.
By the end of August, ten local trade union representatives remain in police prisons. Demands to release them have been ignored by the Korean decision makers and government authorities, including an intervention by the Director General of the International Labour Organisation ILO.
The New Core Outlet, Kim's Club and Homever workers struggle has drawn much support and admiration from trade unions around the world. UNI Commerce affiliates such as UFCW in the United States and ver.di in Germany have already given financial support to their Korean colleagues, as well as SETCa-BBTK in Belgium, Tez-Koop-IS in Turkey and HK in Denmark.
Earlier this week, E.Land announced the launch of its new Who.A.U. fashion store chain in the United States, with the first outlet to be opened in October. UNI Commerce is in discussions with US trade unions about suitable ways of informing the American consumers about the company's behaviour at home in Korea. In fact, the target group in the United States is identical to the company's target in Korea, young women - but the difference is that the American teens and young people will be targeted commercially, in Korea by riot police and hired thugs.
Source: uni global union
Related:
☞ 연행과 물대포, '그래도 우린 매장으로 돌아간다' (pictures/Tongil News, 8.31)
"31일 오후 이랜드 일반노조원을 비롯해 이들과 연대투쟁을 벌이고 있는 전국민주연합노조 소속 조합원과 민주노총'이랜드,뉴코아 타격1000인 선봉대' 등 1200여명이 이랜드 매장인 홈에버 상암점에 집결해 해고자 복직과 '비정규직 철폐'를 요구하며 집회를 벌였다."
☞ 이랜드 사측 직원의 절규, '발목 잡지 마라!' (pictures/Tongil News, 8.31)
"이랜드 사태가 장기화 되면서 30일 이랜드 전국 33개점 매장 사측 직원 800여명이 민주노총과 민주노동당사 앞. 홈에버 상암점 앞 등지에서 이랜드 노조와의 연대단체들이 '외부세력'이라며 항의집회를 벌였다. 사진은 홈에버 상암점에서 이랜드 노조측을 향해 항의피켓을 든 사측 직원의 모습."
☞ 뉴코아-이랜드 투쟁 보고서 (참세상TV, 9.02/documentary video: Chronologically Report of the E.Land Struggle, Chamsesang TV, incl. English subtitles)
BERLIN:
EVERY THIRD
CHILD IS POOR
Drastically increase of children poverty in the city!
That's not "communist" propaganda against the capitalist reality - that's just today's front page and main story of the bourgeois BZ, THE mass circulation newspaper in Berlin..
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