CINA

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KCTU organized for yesterday(8.18) the latest National Workers' Struggle Day to support the E.Land/New Core workers in particular and the struggle of the masses of "irregular" workers (at least 8,000,000 in S.K.!!) in general.

In Seoul at least 3000 activists joined the rallies in different areas (here in front of Seoul Stn.).

All across S. Korea nearly 10,000 people took the streets to join the Struggle Day.. (*)

Meanwhile the int'l solidarity with their struggle is increasing:

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns E.Land management and Korean Government for their actions against shop workers

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns the behaviour of Korean retailer E.Land and the country's government in connection with the ongoing labour conflict. The authoritative commission, which consists of highly respected judges, lawyers and academics from different Asian countries, point at reports by 'various professors and lawyers which say that E.Land has falsified documents to avoid having to regularise its non-regular workers, such as required by a new law. The government ignored the falsifications, and clamped down on the workers instead.

E.Land falsified documents

- According to the fact-finding report carried out by a various professors and lawyers regarding the workers' rights 12 July 2007, it is reported that E-Land has falsified employment documents with individual workers so that their contracts would not have to be transformed into a regular basis. The report says that E-Land management has forced irregular employees to sign up under other people's names after having worked for a year in the company's stores, the Human Rights Commission says.

 - Also the workers were forced to sign for the contract without describing exact contract period, such as 'blank contract' (without filling out the period of contract) which is obviously illegal. Therefore, they are deprived of the chance to qualify for a regular contract after two years of employment, as provided by the new labour law.

The Government ignored E.Land's falsifications

The AHRC which is headed by a former Indian High Court Judge heavily criticises the Korean authorities for their handling of the conflict:

- ... the government did not investigate those illegal acts by the company and has failed to settle the disputes and instead has ignited them by forcibly cracking down on the workers' protest, the Asian judges, lawyers and academics say.

AHRC confirm the trade union view on how events unfolded

AHRC's description of the events fully confirms the views of the Korean trade unions and their international organisations, such as UNI. We quote the report:

- According to the information we have received, due to a new labour law stating that irregular workers would automatically be granted regular status if they worked for a company for more than two years, a company called 'New Core Outlet' dismissed about 300 irregular workers before the law came into force and another company called 'Homever' dismissed at about 500 irregular workers after the law was enacted. Both are subsidiary companies of E-Land Group. Most dismissed workers were women, supermarket and department store cashiers and sales assistant workers of the company under the Group with very insecure employment conditions. After the mass dismissal, the E-Land Group substituted them with employees outsourced from temporary employment agencies.

- Since 1 July 2007, the labour union at the E-land Group continued their sit-in protest at 'New Core Outlet' department store complex in central Seoul and 'Homever' in World Cup Stadium in Seoul until 20 July against the mass dismissal of irregular workers. The strike at the 'Homever' lasted for 21 days and the strike at the 'New Core Outlet' continued for 14 days.

- On Friday July 20, more than 7,000 policemen broke down reconstructed barriers set up by the striking workers and moved in to forcibly remove the striking workers from the store. The police took 169 protestors from the two companies to several police stations and they were released. Some workers were injured in the 30 minutes during this process. Only 9 days after the demonstration was broken up, members of the union once again started a sit-in protest at 'New Core Outlet' in Seoul, on July 29. The government sent its riot police again to crack down on the protesters from 'New Core outlet'.

- Now, three core members of E-Land trade union, the president named KIM Kyung-Wook (37), the vice president Mr. LEE Nam-Sin and general secretary Mrs. LEE Kyung-Oak were arrested on charges of organising an illegal strike when riot police stormed picketing protestors. Moreover, other E-Land unionists are allegedly threatened to be arrested and huge individual compensation claims have been filed by the employer for business interference and losses incurred by the sit-in strikes.

source:  uni global union (8.15)

* Related:

☞ 이랜드 전국 11개 매장 18일 매출은 0원 (VoP, incl. video)

☞ 18일 '이랜드 투쟁승리' 전국노동자 대회 (OhmyNews)

☞ [8월 18일]이랜드 규탄 전국노동자대회  (다함께, pics)

☞ `Police Abuse E-Land Strikers' Rights' (K. Times)

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E.Land/New Core Struggle - the latest (f.. disgusting) news:

E.Land (capitalists) locks out store strikers (i.e. unionized workers)

[JoongAng Ilbo, 8.15] 

 
Besieged by angry strikers attempting to stage sit-ins, retail giant E.Land yesterday decided to impose a lockout on unionists at six of its stores.
Following the lockout, the latest maneuver in a bitter one-and-a-half month battle over the issue of fired non-regular workers, E.Land union members will be prohibited from entering the stores by law. Workers attempting to obstruct operations will be subject to arrest.

 
Under a lockout, an employer prevents unionists from working in an effort to gain a better bargaining position in labor negotiations.

 
An E.Land spokesman, Hwang Woo-il, said the company submitted an application yesterday for a lockout to the Ministry of Labor and the National Labor Relations Commission. The measure took effect at 3 p.m. at the Gangnam branch of New Core department store in southern Seoul. The lockout will also be enforced on five more New Core outlets in Incheon, Bundang and Ilsan. The six stores will continue normal operations, permitting access for shoppers and non-union employees..

 
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2879294

Related:

☞ E.Land locks out shop workers.. (UNI)

☞ [8월 15일] 이랜드 투쟁 3차 점거 시도    (pics about the latest struggle day)

The latest info/struggle paper by New Core Labour Union/뉴코아노동조합:

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As scheduled by KCTU after the latest crackdown against the E.Land/New Core Strike ("The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions/KCTU, an umbrella labor organization to which E-Land unionists belong, held an emergency meeting and decided to stage concurrent strikes at E-Land stores across the nation on August 5, August 11 and August 19 to support the E-Land workers", Hankyoreh, 8.01) yesterday the latest day of organized boycott against E.Land/New Core outlets took place and hundreds of labour activists participated.

8.11, Seoul and Incheon

Related reports:

☞ 이랜드규탄 민주노총 5차 총력투쟁 전개.. (P. Times, incl. video)

☞ [8월 11일] 뉴코아 강남점 매출 '0' 투쟁  (pictures, 다함께)

☞ 뉴코아 강남점 앞 경찰 폭력 (노동의..)

☞ 11일 밤 이랜드 자본 사수대 경찰 폭력테러 관련 기사 옮김 (..소리)

8.11, Seoul, New Core Gangnam outlet: Riot Cops' Attack..

Updated (8.13): 

☞ Korean unions step up their 'Zero-sales struggle'.. (UNI)

☞ 이랜드 일반노조, 현재 밤샘 마포서 항의연좌 진행중! (노동의소리)

☞ "경찰이 여성 조합원 성추행 했다" (VoP, incl. video)

8.11, Incheon/Guwol-dong

 

The latest info/struggle paper by New Core Labour Union/뉴코아노동조합:

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Last Thursday (8.02) KCTU published following statement/report about the current E.Land/New Core.. Struggle:

The Second Brutal Attack by the Police against the Striking Irregular Workers at E-Land and New Core:

There will be no more warnings. The police brutal acts will be avenged! (*)

  In the early morning on July 31, the police again violated the workers' right to strike. We now characterize the Roh Moo-hyun government, which has consistently resorted to force against the workers, as a government of violence. And we will make E-Land, the company that has mobilized thugs and threatened violence against the striking workers, regret the actions they have taken today under the protection of the government.

  After police forces dispersed striking workers on the 20th of last month, the government hasn't acted to bring the employers to the negotiating table. Rather they have sought to crush the calls of the workers. They have arrested a member of the trade union's negotiating committee, and have blocked the right of the workers to strike by applying for a provisional disposition regarding obstruction of business. Recently it has even provisionally seized the bank accounts of members and mobilized thugs to threaten force. These examples are only the most recent examples that confirm where the responsibility for the current crisis lies. As the second sit-in strike has shown violence will not resolve this stand-off.

  The management philosophy of E-Land, which promised 100% employment succession and guarantee of trade union activities when it acquired Carrefour's stores, is said to be 'work over money, and people over work.' This 'focus on people' in reality has translated into 10 hour days for 850 dollars in monthly wages, mass layoffs and outsourcing in order to evade direct employment and correction of discrimination, reduction in contracted workers, casualization of regular workers, and contracts of 3, 6, 9, and sometimes even 0 months. Their actions were a retail store of labor oppression under the name of cost-cutting. Workers worked on holidays and 24 hour shifts. The rest area for workers was turned into a praying room for religions activities aimed at raising sales. On top of it all, the collective bargaining agreement was violated by the management before the response from the workers. This is the essence of E-Land.

  Faced with such a situation, workers have for the first time joined a union and organized a sit-in strike. These women workers have taken their cause directly to the public, and many citizens have shed tears at their plight. But the government has crushed the actions by these workers with police shields, solely reiterating the claim that the actions were illegal. If the law and government force is used to trample on the majority of workers, then they cannot expect to be respected. E-Lands CEO, the head of a company which has engaged in unjust labor practices for over 10 years and now has laid off hundreds of female workers while utilizing negotiations as a tactical tool for repression, needs to be arrested. 

  The catastrophe that the government has brought on by protecting abusive companies and deceiving the public with the bill to protect irregular workers will only further the repression of irregular workers by employers. It can be expected that irregular workers will not stand by while this happens, and more struggles will occur. The country will have to bear the costs of social conflict, and responsibility lies solely with the employers and the government. They will have to pay a price.

On July 31, KCTU immediately had a meeting of representatives from the industrial unions and has decided that on the 21st of this month, a National Congress will be held that has only one item for discussion: resolving the New Core, E-Land issue. The Congress will resolve to extend the struggle to all levels of the organization. The regional offices will continue to organize activities to minimize sales at E-Land stores, and there will be concentrated efforts for '0 sales' on the 5th and 11th. On the 18th, there will be a workers' rally across the country with more than 50,000 workers participating. The only solution is an agreement that incorporates the demands of the workers at E-Land. If the government and E-Land want a dialogue, they must first apologize for the acts that have been committed so far...

KCTU's entire contribution, incl. a call for int'l solidarity/protest letter to the S.K. president, you can read here.


Related:
☞ UNI global union's special section for E.Land Struggle

☞ 이랜드자본규탄 4차 총력투쟁 모습 (P. Times, 8.05)

☞ 이랜드 노조, 전국매장 타격투쟁 (VoP, 8.05)

* "..will be avenged" REALLY???? When and how??

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Today in the early morning once again - and not surprising - the S.K. gov't answered the demands of E.Land/New Core/Homever workers with STATE TERROR!

During the extreme violent attack against the sit-in strike in Seoul's Gangnam New Core branch thousands of riot cops arrested at least 190 labour union activists:

Police Crack Down on E-Land Workers (K. Times, 7.31)
 

Thousands of police raided a discount store in southern Seoul Tuesday to disperse workers who have been holding a sit-in strike for the past three days calling for the reinstatement of dismissed non-regular workers and a pay raise.

About 5,000 police officers removed some 200 striking unionized workers from E-Land at around 5 a.m., Monday (likely the reporter means Tuesday^^). Although there were some scuffles initially, the police took the workers to police stations within one hour...

The workers chanted slogans such as ``End discrimination against non-regular workers'' and ``We denounce forced dispersion.''

The police also hauled away five officials from the progressive Democratic Labor Party who had joined the sit-in protest along with the striking workers (please watch a video about the "event" here).

Unionists and labor groups made it clear that they would continue their struggle until their demands are met...

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/08/117_7495.html

Related articles/ducumentaries:

☞ 7월31일 오후 교섭 결과 브리핑 (뉴코아-이랜드일반노동조합)

☞ 뉴코아 농성, 결국 전원 강제연행!! (노동의소리)

☞ 뉴코아 강남점 공권력 침탈, 조합원 전원연행 (VoP, incl. several videos)

☞ 경찰, 강남뉴코아 점거농성 강제진압 완료 (OhmyNews article, incl. video)

☞ Police break up E.Land rally (K. Herald)

☞ Police break up second E-Land sit-in (Hankyoreh)

Finally uni global union said in its today's contribution about the E.Land Struggle that..

..E.Land wants to destroy union with government support

 
E.Land is now out to destroy its workers' trade union in what is emerging as one of the dirtiest union-busting campaigns ever seen. In doing this, they are supported by a wavering but friendly and cooperative government, which readily accommodates the company's requests for riot police intervention and repression. The playing field is heavily slanted in the retailer's favour, and many government representatives don't even hide their views that the workers should just accept the mass lay-offs and all other management decisions.
 

An important part of employer strategy has been to lock up the main leaders of its trade union, to weaken the E.Land workers' capacity to negotiate. When their trade union confederation KCTU came in to support the struggle, it was heavily attached by the government and its labour minister as a 'third party' intervention. Apparently, the company and its friends in government had not counted on a broad labour support for the strike. Instead they must have thought that it would be easy to get out of the difficult situation by putting enough pressure on the workers and their workplace and company level union structures.

자본주의 박살내자!

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Today's (conservative) daily newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported:

Union retakes E.Land outlet in labor fight

Union members of the E.Land Group once again seized the Gangnam branch of New Core Department Store and began a sit-in demonstration, just nine days after police forced them out.

Yesterday, 500 members of E.Land, New Core and other labor groups entered Kim’s Club, a grocery unit located in the basement of New Core, pretending to be shoppers.

 
As Kim’s Club is open 24 hours a day, the union workers stayed until 2:10 a.m., which is when they pushed their shopping carts en masse to the cashier counters, thus blocking the aisles and succeeding in taking over the store.

 
Other labor groups included the umbrella Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which has declared an all-out fight against the company over its dismissal of non-regular workers, and the left-wing political group, Hanchongryeon. Regular customers and employees were let out of the building with no particular hassle.
This was the second time E.Land union members were able to take control of the department store. The first 21-day sit-in at the World Cup branch of Homever beginning June 30 and a 13-day sit-in at New Core beginning July 8 ended in police intervention. Both Homever and New Core are affiliates of E.Land.

 
The demonstrations began after E.Land refused to renew contracts for over 700 irregular workers, mostly cashiers, before a revised labor law protecting such workers went into effect on July 1.

Management complained that they were stabbed in the back, since they only received a proposal for negotiations two hours before the demonstration began. As in the earlier protest, they maintain that they will not begin full negotiations until the union moves out of the building.

The union claims that management made a return to protesting inevitable. After the July 20 raid, labor and management met once, but talks were cut off after 30 minutes after disagreements arose about where to negotiate and who could participate.

 
“Since the raid, management has not earnestly participated in negotiations,” said Hong Yoon-kyung, secretary general of E.Land’s labor union. Hong said that they will continue the sit-in for as long as it takes for New Core to withdraw its contract with an outsourced labor firm and guarantee employment to all workers.
E.Land management estimates that 40 billion won ($43.4 million) has been lost so far because of the strikes.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2878599

Yonhap (7.30): "E.Land union members clash with contract workers

hired by the company. Police intervened when the outsourced workers tried to

remove a barricade leading to Kim’s Club at the Gangnam branch of

New Core Department Store in southern Seoul, where the

union resumed a sit-in yesterday morning."

Tomorrow's K. Herald will publish following stuff:

Police poised to bust up E.Land sit-in 
 

Police were yesterday set to storm an E.Land outlet to end a sit-in by company workers and labor activists.

About 370 protesters occupied the underground section of the retailer's New Core outlet in southern Seoul on Sunday, demanding the release of arrested union leaders and the scrapping of the temporary workers law.

Seoul police yesterday held an emergency meeting to discuss a response to the occupation, which came nine days after police dispersed on July 20 union workers who had been holed up at two branches of the retailer for weeks.

"The timing of enforcement will depends on further developments there," a senior Seoul police officer told reporters.

Tensions were escalating near the New Core branch in Gangnam. More than 1,000 non-union E.Land workers and about 1,200 vendors in the New Core store gathered in and outside the building, calling on the unionists to leave the place.

They briefly clashed with about 300 protest supporters, including members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and civic group activists, in the afternoon.

https://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2007/07/31/200707310036.asp

But hundreds of activists are fighting for VICTORY!!

☞ 0730 뉴코아 강남점 새벽 풍경 (P. Times..)

☞ 7.30 강남 뉴코아아울렛 농성장 주변모습 (..pics and video)

☞ 뉴코아 강남점, 공권력 투입 임박 (VoP, incl. 3 videos)

☞ "점거 풀리자 손배가압류... 다시 농성할 수밖에" (OhmyNews)

☞ Supermarket occupation re-starts in Korea (UNI)

In the morning Hong Gil-dong wrote about last night's situation:

밤시간엔 농성투쟁 엄호사수 대오가 있는 뉴코아 건물 바깥 수백 대오가 모여 있는 곳 가까이에서
구사대가 격렬(?)히 집회 아인 집회를 밤 9시 넘어까지 하고 해산했습니다.
새벽 이 시간에도 바깥엄호대오들은 밤샘노숙농성으로 킴스 건물 안 농성대오를 엄호하고 있습니다.
오늘 하루가 또 어찌 전개될지 알 수 없습니다. 이랜드자본이 무릎꿇을 날이 얼마남지 않은 만큼
모든 동지들이 놓여있는 상황과여러 조건들이 어렵더라도
이 투쟁 승리할 때까지 끝까지 연대하고 함께 투쟁해서 비정규직 철폐의 그 길을 앞당기도록 합시다!

About the situation on the spot in the afternoon:

현재 뉴코아아울렛신관과 킴스클럽매장이 연결된 지하1층 매장통로에 전경을 사이에 두고 용역깡패와 구사대가 침탈을 시도하고 있습니다.

매장통로 사이에는 카트로 만든 바리케이트 외에는 아무것도 없으며, 어제의 도발보다 더 심하게 용역깡패와 구사대들이 난동을 피우며, 농성내부의 대오를 끌어내라며 경찰을 자극하고 있습니다.

농성장안에는 여성조합원이 대다수이며, 카트로 만든 바리케이트 외에 아무것도 없다는 점에서 침탈위협이 상당합니다.

연대대오의 연대가 절실합니다.
지금당장 강남점 킴스클럽 앞으로 모여주십시오.

이랜드 투쟁 승리!
자본주의 박살내자!

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Latest news about the struggle/strike against E.Land (Homever/New Core) capitalists:

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The KTX Crew Workers’ Branch Union’s (철도노조 KTX승무지부) struggle is the longest and most bitterly waged fight by women workers in the history of Korea.  For over 500 days, women who work as train attendants on the KTX bullet trains have held public rallies and marches, occupied buildings, lectured in classrooms, and conducted outreach on the streets and at train stations throughout the country.  But until now KORAIL is refusing to meet the union’s demands for gender equality, safe working conditions and contracted employment.

So the KTX workers' union published already some days ago (7.13) following..

URGENT APPEAL for INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

On March 1, 2006, approximately four hundred women who work as train attendants (similar to flight attendants) on the KTX “bullet train” began a strike to demand the end of discriminatory and unjust outsourcing practices of the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL).  KORAIL officials led KTX women workers to believe that although they were initially hired under short-term contracts via an external company, they would be granted permanent status as direct employees of KORAIL after one year.  However, the KTX Crew Workers Branch Union’s demands for direct and permanent employment have yet to be met.

To date, the KTX Crew Workers’ Branch Union’s struggle is the longest and most bitterly waged fight by women workers in the history of Korea.  For over 500 days, women who work as train attendants on the KTX bullet trains have held public rallies and marches, occupied buildings, lectured in classrooms, and conducted outreach on the streets and at train stations throughout the country.  KORAIL’s continued refusal to meet the union’s demands for gender equality, safe working conditions and secure employment have led union leaders to engage in desperate measures to expose the unjust and unequal conditions under which they are forced to work.  After exhausting every tactic, 31 union members began a hunger strike on July 2, 2007.  As the hunger strike surpasses its 14th day, many union members have been rushed to the hospital.

Despite KTX’s sleek and high-tech image as the fifth fastest “bullet train” in the world, it is the site of blatant sexism and labor abuse.  Of those train attendants who are irregularly employed under outsourcing agreements, the majority are women.  In contrast, their male counterparts who perform comparable duties are directly employed by KORAIL as “team leaders.”  Simply by being women, KTX train attendants are subject to lower wages, harsher working conditions, and heightened job insecurity.  In addition, women workers face the perpetual threat of dismissal if they speak out against unfair conditions and sexual harassment in the workplace. 

According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, KORAIL’s treatment of KTX female train attendants is a clear example of gender discrimination and a basic violation of human rights.  The National Human Rights Commission has strongly recommended that striking KTX women workers be granted fair and just conditions of employment.  The South Korean Minister of Labor, the legal community, various media outlets, 500 university professors, 300 members of the literary community and a wide cross section of NGOs including the Korea Women’s Association United, Lawyers for Democratic Society, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Korea Women Workers Association United, and the People’s Coalition for Media Reform have also called upon KORAIL to reinstate the striking workers as directly hired employees, not as contingent workers contracted through a third party. However, KORAIL continues to disregard this overwhelming public outcry.

KORAIL, the nation’s largest public enterprise and employer of over 30,000 people, refuses to abide by the most basic and fundamental standards of fairness and equality.  KORAIL’s actions violate South Korean laws that prohibit all forms of discrimination, as well as international standards established by the ILO to protect the rights of workers. KORAIL is also failing to comply with the international standards that the company itself pledged to uphold when it joined the UN Global Compact in May 2007.

KORAIL’s blatant violation of the basic principles of democracy and human rights deserve international criticism.  KORAIL’s actions are indicative not only of the pervasive inequality facing contingent workers in South Korea, but also of systemic gender discrimination in South Korea.  We urge the international community to stand in solidarity with the KTX Crew Workers in its brave fight for justice. We respectfully request your signature on this petition letter in support of the KTX women workers. This letter will be sent to President Roh Moo-hyun and UN Secretariat General Ban Ki-moon, as well as the CEO of KORAIL.

Source: LabourStart/Global Voice for Justice

Related:

☞ KTX Workers' Struggle. A Slide Show (with English subtitles)

☞ "숨바꼭질" 300 Days of Struggle (video docu by Hong Gil-dong, Korean)

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E.Land/Homever Capitalists: The Strike

is a Result of "Devil's Temptation"!!

It seems that after the (first???) massive wave of STATE TERROR against the striking workers of E.Land/Homever is over, the capitalists and their collaborators (for example in the S.K. media) declared a psychological warfare/"PSYCHO TERROR" against the labour union (KCTU) activists.

Korea Times reported today that:
 

"The nation’s major retailer E-Land Group is suspected of sending hateful e-mail to its unionized workers who are in protest over the management’s massive layoff of non-regular workers. In the e-mail, the writer compared its striking workers’ protest to an action caused by devil’s temptation."

And it continued:

According to the company’s labor union Sunday, hundreds of unionized workers received the e-mail which was sent under the name of Kim Young-soo, the president of E-Land World, an affiliate of the group.

In the e-mail, Kim asked workers to pray three times a day, so that ``striking workers repent before the God and never get tempted by devil again.’’ The writer also said that they should pray so that ``the God can make union leaders get arrested’’ and ``workers do their best as faithful servants who do not complain about their salaries.’’..

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/07/117_7024.html

And the reactionary Chosun Ilbo agitated today extreme aggressive:

The KCTU Hurts Workers' Interests

 
In retaliation against the use of police to break up an illegal sit-in by contract workers at discount retailer E-Land, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has announced a full-blown battle against the company, including a campaign to boycott its products. On Saturday, the KCTU held protest rallies in front of E-Land stores across the country, demanding the release of union members who have been arrested. The KCTU vowed to continue its boycott until July 27. The New Core outlet branch in southern Seoul as well as 29 stores across the country had to halt business for one to two hours. Because the KCTU had interfered in the labor dispute at E-Land, an amicable solution between management and the non-regular workers has become impossible and police had to intervene.

 
During earlier talks, management at E-Land had accepted a majority of the union’s demands, including an end to outsourcing cashiers, while rehiring those who had already been reclassified as being employed by outsourcing companies. But the union refused to back off even one step from its original demands, including the rehiring of outsourced workers within a month. That’s because the KCTU’s objective has nothing to do with improving the working conditions of E-Land non-regular workers. The KCTU just wanted to use the E-Land situation as a rallying cause for its fight for all non-regular workers.

Just like during the GS Caltex strike in 2004 or the POSCO Engineering & Construction strike in 2006, whenever the KCTU interferes, scores of workers lose their jobs, many of them end up being jailed, and their companies are hit hard as well. In other words, everyone loses whenever the KCTU steps in.

Launching its boycott of E-Land products, the KCTU said it would be a fight to see whether the company closes down or the KCTU lowers its banner once and for all. If E-Land closes down, both regular and non-regular workers will lose their jobs. Yet the KCTU has vowed to fight until the company goes broke and it’s doing it in the name of E-Land workers. If the unionists of E-Land want to live, they will have no choice but to turn their backs on the KCTU.

 
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200707/200707230024.html

But while the capitalist class is trying to smash the labour union's activities, there's also an international solidarity! For example by

☞ E.Land workers in Korea
fight for their jobs and families

Related:

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).. launched campaign to boycott E-Land products in protest against management’s layoff of non-regular workers and the government’s crackdown on striking workers

7.21, the first day of boycott against E.Land

  
   ``E-Land, which is anti-labor and anti-social, has no longer the right to operate as a company. We will continue our full-fledged campaign to boycott the company’s products to force it out from the market,’’ said Lee Sok-haeng, chairman of the KCTU. ``We will also keep demanding the government apologize for its crackdown on workers who fight for their rights to live.’’.. (K. Times, 7.23)

☞ 폭력 진압 이후 이랜드 매출 제로 투쟁, 29 매장 스톱 (P. Times, 7.21/incl. video)

☞ E.Land dispute escalates after crackdown on sit-in (Hankyoreh)

자본주의 박살내자!

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Already yesterday the S.K. gov't. - i.e. the power instrument of the ruling (capitalist) class - promised, better said threatened to "solve" the E.Land strike in behalf of the capitalists. And only few hours later they fulfilled their "promise"/THREAT by using STATE TERROR!!

(BTW.. I'm sure that the coming, likeley conservative govt. will/can not act worse than the present "progressive" gov't.!!) "Thousands of riot police stormed the two E.land Group outlets in Seoul.." Korea Herald reported today.

Police End E-land Strike (K. Times, 7.20)

Police cracked down on striking union workers at the nation’s major retailer E-Land Group, Friday.

The workers held a sit-in Friday for the 21st day in the Homever outlet in Sangam-dong, and the 14th day in the New Core outlet in Gangnam _ to protest the massive dismissal of non-regular workers.

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency arrested protestors at the two outlets by dispatching 7,000 policemen to the sites.

When police arrived nearly 9:35 a.m., 140 employees at New Core in Gangnam District and 80 others at Homever outlet in Sangam-dong folded their arms and began resisting arrest by lying on the floor, leading to fierce scuffles between the protestors and police. However, within one hour, all of them were taken to the police station.

About 200 members of the major labor group Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and family members of the protestors denounced the government’s use of police force by holding an overnight demonstration. Lawmakers Sim Sang-jeong, Roh Hoe-chan, Cheon Young-se and Kwon Young-kil at the progressive Democratic Labor Party visited the outlets and strongly protested against the police for its crackdown.

 sources of the pics: OhmyNews

``The government’s use of police force in dealing with E-Land situation, which symbolizes the problems of the government’s new labor bill on non-regular workers, is of no use in reaching a desirable solution. We should congregate our efforts to revise the bill, since it is an evil law that only accelerates financial polarization of the society,’’ said Dan Byung-ho, a lawmaker at the party.

Despite constant negotiations, the union and management failed to narrow their differences over employment security, salaries, upgrading non-regular workers to regular employees and management's lawsuit against the union.

Labor Minister Lee Sang-soo warned Wednesday that the government would use police intervention if illegal protests become persistent.

E-Land laid off more than 900 non-regular employees at Homever and New Core before the country's new labor law regarding them took effect this month, provoking the protest by the union.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/07/117_6881.html

Related:

☞ Unions call for boycott after police end sit-in (JoongAng Ilbo)

☞ Police crack down on E-Land strike (Hankyoreh)

☞ Riot police bust up E.Land sit-ins (K. Herald, 7.20)

☞ STATE TERROR & WORKERS' RESISTANCE (video by Chamsesang)

☞ 이랜드매장 점거농성 노조원 강제연행.., but 후폭풍 거세질듯 (P. Times..)

☞ 상암기자회견 - 노무현 정권의 비참한 말로를 선언한다!! (..incl. video)

☞ 홈에버 농성자 연행, 그 숨가빴던 40분 (OhmyNews)

☞ "오늘 노무현대통령 실수한 겁니다" (노동의소리)

☞ 이랜드.. 농성장 경찰력 투입을 강력히 규탄한다. (MTU statement)

 자본주의 박살내자!