CINA

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While the capitalists of E.Land Group have no intention to give up their hard-line policy against "their" irregular workers the struggle must/will continue until the demands of the Labour Union will be fulfilled! But meanwhile the S.K. govt., in behalf of the E.Land capitalists, is preparing to use its "only and best" mean to "solve" labour disputes/problems... by using STATE TERROR against the striking workers!!

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Latest news about the E.Land struggle/strike..

Today's bourgeois (conservative) JoongAng Ilbo published following article:

E.Land strike grinds on, no end in sight

Although there is nothing new about labor-management struggles in Korea, the ongoing strife at retail giant E.Land is a fresh chapter.
Unlike previous disputes involving wage complaints or work rule disputes, this incident was ignited by a new labor law giving greater rights to non-regular employees.

As a result civic groups say the strike carries moral force and is a test case for forcing companies to respect the new law.

 
When E.Land Group, an operator of the discount chains Homever and New Core, failed to renew the contracts of roughly 750 irregular workers before the new law went into effect, they were off the hook legally, but their union was enraged.
The group’s Homever and New Core affiliates let irregular workers ― mostly cashiers ― go because the new law that went into effect July 1 requires companies to change the status of all irregular workers who have worked for more than two years to regular workers.

The law was designed to protect irregular workers, who have an uncertain status and lower wages than regular workers despite working similar hours.
The union claims that those who were fired thought it was unfair and they occupied various store locations beginning June 30. Two flagship stores are still occupied, and police and management have been trying to lure the union members out of the two buildings.

 
On Sunday, union members at New Core shaved their heads in protest. “These are my coworkers and they are like my family,” said Kim In-sik, a manager of New Core’s Ilsan store, in explaining why he supports the dismissed contract workers.
Yesterday, E.Land union members continued their sit-in at the World Cup branch of Homever in northwest Seoul and at the Gangnam branch of New Core. The stores have been shut down for 18 days and 10 days, respectively.
Talks at the Seoul Labor Office between labor and management yesterday got nowhere, and there is no end to the dispute in sight.

 
Yesterday was the third try by the two sides to reach a deal. Labor and management met first on July 10, but the meeting lasted just three hours. On Saturday, the parties negotiated through the night, breaking up at 6 a.m. after 11 hours with no agreement other than a decision to conduct talks over Homever and New Core separately.

New Core management suggested that if all irregular workers were given regular jobs, they would cut wages by 2 to 3 percent this year in exchange for an end to the sit-in. The union rejected the offer.

Homever said yesterday that it would convert non-regular workers who have been working for more than one year to an employment status that offers wages based on performance incentives. Workers who have been with the company for more than 18 months would be guaranteed a regular job with fixed wages.

 
The union, however, demanded that all workers with two years tenure or more be converted to regular employees with fixed wages regardless of performance and that workers with three months tenure or more be guaranteed a job.

Unlike many union demonstrations, the public seems largely sympathetic to the E.Land employees. Many civic groups announced a boycott of E.Land products Monday, saying that the company abused its authority in firing irregular workers and shirking its social responsibility.

Fifty-seven groups, including the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Korea Women’s Associations United, and the Korean YMCA held a press conference Monday in front of the Homever World Cup branch to launch the boycott.

“Companies have been taking shortcuts by firing contract workers to cut down on costs and avoid responsibility and E.Land’s mass dismissal is the representative case of abuse,” said Kim Min-young, secre tary general of People’s Solidarity. “Civic groups nationwide have been pleading with the government and E.Land to resolve this in a logical manner, and yet the company is only suing the demonstrating workers and asking for compensation while the government is sitting back and watching.”

On Monday, the National Human Rights Commission investigated after receiving reports that union members were being locked up in the store by the management. They will issue a report this week.

 
As the demonstration goes on, however, the union is losing some support from otherwise sympathetic entrepreneurs who have independent shops in New Core. In Korea, large retailers rent out much of their space to smaller owners who operate retail stalls inside the building.

 
“At first we felt very sorry for the irregular workers because they receive such low wages, but [because of the protests] customers are scared to come to the shops now,” said Shin Hyun-jai, head of the New Core shop owners’ emergency committee. “But these problems highlight the flaws of the irregular worker law, showing that companies can abuse it instead of using to it to protect employees.”
According to the union’s Web site, though, resolve is strong. “My heart aches but hopefully we can fight toward victory,” said union member Jeong Young-ki on the site.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2878180

Hong Gil-dong's (숲속홍길동) latest video ducumentaries about the struggle you can see here (7.16) and here (7.17).

Related article:

☞ Labour strife escalates as new labour law comes into effect (interlocals.net)

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26 E-land Unionized Workers Arrested (K. Times, 7.15)
 

Police arrested 26 union members involved in the E-land strike held in protest against the massive dismissal of non-regular workers at the retailer’s major outlet in Sangam-dong, Seoul, Saturday, for violating demonstration-related laws.

About 60 union members clashed with police as they made their way into the outlet to support the E-land workers.

The protest, which started on July 1 at E-Land's Homever outlet there, expanded to more than 20 other Homever and New Core outlets in other cities. The union is planning to expand their sit-in protests to other outlets.

While the union is calling for management to participate in talks over the reinstatement of dismissed workers, the management is firm on its position that they will not participate in negotiations unless the union halts the strike or accepts arbitration from the Ministry of Labor.

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.

The new law requires employers to change the irregular status of employees to regular if they are employed for over two years. E-Land management dismissed its non-regular employees to save additional costs.

The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), which the E-land union belongs to, has committed to support its members and several civic groups are also supporting the union, criticizing E-land management for abusing the new law...

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/07/117_6518.html

☞ Police block access to E-Land outlets (Hankyoreh)

Related:

☞ 7.14 오후 홈에버 상암.강남점 주변 모습.. (P. Times - pics, video)

☞ 농성 14일째, 홈에버 농성장 경찰 충돌 잇따라 (Chamsesang)

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Today's Hankyoreh published following report (well, I think there's no further comment necessary!!):

E.Land using falsified documents to avoid law
Civic groups announce illegalities in an effort to prevent further worker abuse

Civic groups organized by lawyers and professors said at a press conference on July 12, saying that illegal changes in workplace conditions for non-regular workers have been brought about by New Core and E-Land.

According to them, a 21-year-old resident of Anyang in Gyeonggi Province known as Geum, who requested that her first name be withheld, began to work at a New Core store, one of retail arms of E-Land Group, in Pyeongchon as a cashier in April last year. When signing the contract, she wrote just her address, phone number, resident registration number and name on the contract form. She was not informed about her working conditions, including her wages, working hours and contract terms.

A year later, an outlet manager told her, “We can’t hire people who have worked here for over a year. You should renew your contract using somebody else’s name.” Geum signed the contract under the name of Kim Eun-gyeong, her sister’s friend. Once again, she wrote only Kim’s name, address, phone number and resident registration number on the contract form. Once again, the working conditions were not stated in the contract form and her wages were transferred to a bank account opened under Kim’s name. While at work, Geum had to wear a name tag bearing Kim Eun-gyeong’s name. Geum had become another person.

Approximately one month later, the manager of the Pyeongchon outlet gave her a copy of the contract, which she had signed under the name of Kim. The document stated that the contract terms expired on June 30, just a day before the new non-regular worker protection law took effect. According to Geum, however, she had never been notified of the contract expiration date upon signing the contract form.

On June 10, the manager informed Geum, “As of June 30, all of our cashiers will be replaced by workers from temporary agencies. Until then, you will have to take on other work stacking boxes in the basement. After that, become an outsourced worker, or you will have to quit your job.”

Up to this point, Geum had been paid 3,500 won (US$3.80) per hour, 20 won higher than the minimum wage. Due to what the company deemed as her heavy workload, she got additional 100 won per hour. Then, the non-regular worker protection law, which requires companies to change the legal status of its non-regular workers to regular if they have worked more than two years for the company, took effect on July 1. The day before the law went into effect, more than 900 non-regular workers with E-Land group were laid off.

The civic groups state that E-Land Group adopted illegal means to replace their cashiers with workers from temporary agencies before the nation implemented the law, presenting copies of illegal contract forms, similar to the one which had been made for Geum. The statement was made at Cheongun-dong in downtown Seoul near the Presidential office.

Yeo Yeon-sim of Lawyers for Democratic Society said, “The company ordered non-regular workers like Geum to sign new contracts under other people’s names after a year of employment so they would not have to provide severance packages as required by law.”

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/222286.html

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Here the latest news about the current struggle of S.K. irregular workers against the E.Land/New Core/Homever exploiter-front:

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OCCUPATION!
S.Korean Irregular Workers are Striking Back!

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One month ago the G8-"summit" was held in the (north-east) German Baltic Sea resort Heiligendamm (I published several contributions about the issue..).  
Here's now the (likeley?!!) last one: impressions written by an Irish anarchist activis (published in the Swiss rev. magazine der aufbau). He travelled to the protests against the G8. He reported on the actions that were taken and then on his arrest and mistreatment.

The Build-Up - 2nd June 2007 (Saturday)

We travelled to Rostock on one of the 30 buses going from Hamburg. When we arrived the city was awash with people and also a gargantuan police presence. We made our way to the starting point of the rally in which the anarchist block was due to march, the second rally being composed more so of NGOs and political parties. After an hour or so of boring speeches and the monotone gloom of David Rovics, the march set off.

A pretty impressive black bloc had formed at the rear-centre composed of AntiFa, anarchist groups and of course the Autonomous movement people. Black clad protesters are a much more eclectic bunch politically, this is worth remembering.

As the march weaved its way through the elegant city of Rostock, the Black Block seemed to swell considerably as it followed the sounds of the AntiFa sound system. My estimation is approximate, but I would guess it comprised of at least 6-7000 people. After an hour of marching and chanting, news filtered through that the other rally (which we were to meet at the Harbour) had been attacked by police using pepper spray, tear gas and of the course the ever-useful baton. Plumes of tear gas could be seen from afar and our march became agitated as it seemed the police had halted its progress at the front to prevent us reaching the Harbour and our fellow protesters. There were shouts to get into line among the black bloc as it seemed that we would have to fight our way through to the others.We were a tad anxious as the situation appeared to be deteriorating fast, but were bolstered by the apparent confidence and steel-eyed determination that surrounded us.

Soon, however,the march proceeded and the threat appeared to have abated. We made it to the harbour where the rumours of police violence were substantiated with injured demonstrators being attended to. The police then attempted to arrest people for covering their faces (this is an offence in Germany) and the crowd scattered somewhat into side streets as people fought back against the police repression.The scene escalated quickly as police snatch squads moved in at the sides of the black bloc with some force. However they were met with fearsome resistance, the like of which I have never before witnessed. Stones, bottles and other projectiles were used to give them a hostile welcome and hold them off as other protesters escaped to safety.It seemed as if police efforts to attack the march and arrest hundreds of anarchists and AntiFa had backfired as they were peppered from all sides by angry demonstrators and they had to beat a hasty retreat after a few minutes.

Rostock 6.02, German robo-cops in action..

This went on for quite some time around the harbour area and surrounding streets and can be seen and described better by pictures and video as I want to move on to the other events of the week.

We went back to camp Rostock (one of the three superb G8-specific camps) that evening and digested the days events. 100 arrested, many injured and 400 cops getting treatment (no sympathy there). It was now clear to us that the German police were well-armed, well-protected, well-trained and brutal when they chose to be.There had also emerged a tendency to attack the less militant areas of demonstrations, a tactic which backfired on them big-time both that day and the following day in the German press. It was now also clear to us that the militant groups involved in this G8 were more than a match for their state-sponsored nemeses, should the situation so merit.

3rd - 5th June (Sun. - Tue.)

On Sunday we attended an agriculture-reform march in Rostock. Again hugely well attended, the police did everything they could to incite the marchers.This pattern continued the following day at the Migrants-rights/Freedom-of-Movement rally using the same tactics as Sunday but with added severity. Following a successful march to an emigrant "processing centre" we departed to return to the city centre en bloc.The police constantly stopped the march, then let it proceed, then stopping it again and making demands regarding the clothing of the protesters. First no hoods (even though it was raining), then no hats, then no sunglasses. One protester took the initiative and stripped totally naked with an inscription on his back reading "I am a well behaved protester. " The fashion-related demands were clearly aimed at exposing the huge anarchist and black bloc presence to scrutiny, possibly because of Saturday's roasting. Very few complied with the outlandish demands, and eventually the march proceeded, moving just 1.5km in four hours! The demonstrators all but ignored the police attempts to incite them to militant resistance, everyone knowing that Wednesday (the opening day of the G8) was fast approaching and that our numbers and energy would be better spent then.

We moved to Camp Reddilich that evening as it was more suited to our political and organisational methods.Tuesday was spent moving from meeting to meeting, developing a clear and effective plan for the blockades due to begin in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Affinity groups were formed and ours nestled itself into the "English-speaking bloc" which was comprised of 60-70 people from England, Scandinavia, Ireland and Germany. After a long, long day, our last meeting concluded at 1.30am and we hit the hay with an early start and the G8 to block only a few hours away.

At about 3.30am,the camp siren sounded,along with youthful voices screaming that the camp was being attacked by police.The 6-7000 residents arose to a vision of frenzied activity. Myself and others gathered at our barrio's still-lit campfire and exchanged stories of a similar event in Stirling (G8 2005) which had amounted to nothing.This turned out to be the case again here,with the police merely increasing their numbers 500m from the front gate on a public highway.

A lesson yet again to be learnt for future such events.

The Blockades

At 10am, a bleary-eyed bunch of us departed through the rapeseed fields at the rear of the camp area (which provided excellent cover). We had supplies sufficient to last us for 36 hours in the event of a long-haul outdoor stay. Our plan was to breach the Red Zone through the many forests of the region and create barricades on as many roads as we could. Each affinity group (5-15 people) nominated a delegate to the "spokes council" which would meet at strategic points on our route to maintain the decentralised democratic structure of the group. After about 2 hours of trekking through thick forest and dense rapeseed fields we reached our first road-target. Scouts went ahead to scope it out and reported back to the spokes-council delegates who had been chatting with their affinity groups. The signal was given and we ran onto the road,directing traffic away at either end and setting up two impressive barricades in the centre using logs, branches, dead trees and other natural supplies form the forest floor. With this complete we disappeared into the forest on the other side and began making our way to the next target using compasses and maps.

This was the group's strategy, to build barricades up and down a road and then disappear as quickly as possible to avoid police detection of our whereabouts from land-level and from above (where helicopters roamed the sky continuously). We continued in this manner for several hours pushing further and further into the Red Zone and avoiding police detection using natures cover and a sequence of call-out codes.

One larger road was blockaded with the assistance of the "Tool Team" who felled huge Sycamore trees (a pest species apparently) from the banks, making particularly impassable barricades. As we walked further down this road to build another, 3 BMW police cars (upper-echelon police types) sped by and people initially panicked. However, seconds later, they were calmed and we built a second barricade, trapping the 3 cars in between the two barriers. This was to prevent them from following us but we knew now that our invisibility had been compromised and that we had to tread more carefully from here on in.

At about 4pm, we came across a tourist map at the edge of one of the forests with a "You are Here" guide which had been conveniently altered to indicate police/G8 details by a past passer-by.We were now at the village of Wittingbeck with no further forest cover available for 2km. A spokes council was held after which about a third of the group decided to turn back and the rest to continue towards Heilegendamm. It had been an hour and a half since we had encountered the BMW police cars and no adverse attention had come our way since then, possibly due to the obtuse and unpredictable direction of our chosen route. On we went, passing slowly through the village, attempting to remain as inconspicuous as possible.Suddenly a number of police vans appeared to our right up an alley-way. They backed up immediately upon seeing us,seemingly afraid. We seized the initiative building a barricade of concrete blocks, wooden planks and bricks in front of them, trapping them up the alleyway. Some people fled once they saw the vans and our numbers had again been reduced, now down to about 30.

We were then "bolstered" by the appearance form a side street of a group of black-clad individuals armed with iron bars and bags of bricks.Our attempts to remain inconspicuous in the bustling village had clearly been compromised and seconds later, a PLATOON of police, presumably alerted by their now-trapped colleagues, appeared around the corner and it was all over. As the vans sped toward us, our black-clad comrades who I think but am not 100 percent sure were Greek hurled bricks and stones and swung their iron bars at the windows of the vans as they passed. Most of the group thought it better to flee into an adjoining field (with large agitated horses galloping crazily around).The numbers of police that appeared were overwhelming.

Myself and two comrades tried to remain calm and continued walking as if nothing had happened (we were dressed in a"non-threatening" way at this point). However, this approach proved to be to no avail as we were stopped, screamed at in German, pushed around, cuffed and taken away.The same fate befell our comrades in the field minutes later as they were surrounded on all sides by hundreds of riot police

The Imprisonment

Initially handcuffed, we were then constrained using cable-ties as more and more arrests were made and the police were running low on the luxury version. We were made sit on the grass for almost an hour in the baking heat with no communication with anyone permitted. At 6pm we were loaded onto several police jail buses and pushed around forcefully if any delay resulted as a result of instructions given only in German. We were transported to the temporary detention centre (DC) in Rostock, a journey of 25 km or so, which curiously took two hours! Slacking off, methinks!

Upon our arrival we were "processed" (personal data taken) and then one by one placed in large white cages (5m x 3m x 3m), with open sides but a white sheet shielding one cage from the next to prevent easy communication among inmates (who I shall here after refer to as "comrades"). More and more comrades arrived until each cage had about 15 inhabitants. The cages were empty of supplies with nothing to sleep on except the concrete floor. Introductions were exchanged and the atmosphere was comradely, if very fatigued.

The cages were gender-divided with the female cages protesting the loudest and most continuously for basic rights - food, water, telephone call, lawyer and doctor. These protests were almost completely ignored with food (one slice of bread) and water being the only ones granted,and even at this, only occasionally.

Wednesday Night (6.06)

At 11pm, I was brought to see the "Richter" (police judge) who following a review of the circumstances of my arrest stated that I would be in custody until Saturday at noon. No private space was given to my lawyer and I to speak, a clear breach of the law and my basic riights. A phone call, etc. had still not been granted. The Richter guaranteed in front of my lawyer and translator that I would get my phone call immediately. This promise did not materialise for a further 15 hours.

During the night, any attempts at sleep were made even more impossible by the constant and meaningless moving of comrades from one cage to the next. I, myself, was moved three times and this was typical. Each of the three times I had all but breached the discomfort barrier and had dropped off to sleep.Mental exhaustion was clearly what they were going for, its purpose clearly to weaken comrades physically and mentally for the upcoming interrogations etc. I continuously demanded my phone call, demands which were ignored with impudence. Screams of the females were audible at various times from various points and levels in the building, an unnerving feeling to say the least.

At 5.30am, I was called from my cage. Weary of being incessantly moved and hearing stories of others having been fingerprinted, I refused to move unless the reason for so doing was given. No reason was forthcoming and after my refusal and my comrades solidarity the opfficer left and promptly returned with two armed cops who removed me forcefully. The law in Germany states that you are not obliged to give fingerprints but that you are not permitted to resist with force if an attempt is made to extract them from you.Three men held me as one cop pressed each of my fingers onto the prints sheet. A thoroughly disempowering experience and one that would have been much more traumatic had I not been half-asleep the entire time from exhaustion.

Thursday (6.07)

The hours dragged by, still with no telephone call granted and the heat in the cages grew immense. At about 2.30pm, myself and a comrade from Brighton upon receiving information from an English Lawyer (via a mobile we had smuggled in) demanded that we see a high-ranking officer. We had been informed that our detention was illegal as non-German, E.U citizens and that after our data had been taken and confirmed, we were entitled to release. Once this was communicated to him, we were immediately granted our phone calls and I phoned the legal team and the Irish consulate, explaining the legal situation and conditions to both. The consulate agreed to help, however I would like to emphasise that despite their kind words on the phone to me, they were NO help at all and merely sent me a list of English-speaking lawyers in Germany, despite the fact I had told them clearly I had a competent lawyer. Following the phone call, I returned to my cage but within 5 minutes was on the move again, this time to court in Rostock to hear the appeal I had lodged the previous night to the decision of the Richter.

The four "reasons", (not even charges against me) for keeping me in effective preventative custody were:

1. Being in a group with others dressed in black
2. Being in a group with others wearing masks. (I was not wearing a face-mask at this point nor was I dressed in black,only a black t-shirt)
3. Being present where a fence was damaged (I had not crossed the fence due to the lack of escape opportunities and the crazed horses)
4. Being a danger to the state of Germany

Thus, the judge(Richter) had deemed that to prevent me committing these or further offences in the future 4 days, I had to be detained until Saturday

I was brought to the Rostock city court building where we waited outside in the hallway for quite some time. During this time, the accompanying police officers attempted to pry information from me. I told them I would not answer any questions without my lawyer present and following that replied "Keine Commenta" to every question. They used predictable techniques such as telling me 'You willing be staying in Germany now for 10 months" and then saying that IF I just told them what happened they might be able to help me to avoid this. This continued for about 30 minutes until the judges appeared in the corridor at which point the police fell silent.

I was given 10 minutes to discuss matters with my young lawyer. We then made our case to the hearing about why my detention until Saturday was illegal. Together we described accurately the conditions, the fact that none of the charges can be evidenced in any way by the police and also that no telephone call was granted for 15 hours despite the Richter's guarantee that it would in front of both lawyer and translator (who affirmed this promise in court). The court seemed impressed and the police lawyer said very little throughout except that police resources were under much strain. I felt quietly confident at this point. The court said they would retire for one hour to consider its decision and asked would I like to stay to hear it, to which of course I replied that I would. However the police insisted that I must return to the detention centre and that they would inform me when the court rang with the decision.

I suspected foul play immediately.

When I arrived back in the D.C I was placed in solitary confinement away from all the other comrades in a cell with four white walls, a toilet and nothing else. I heard nothing for about 6 hours except the occasional sobbing and sometimes hysterical screaming of one of the other comrades who had suffered the same fate as I.The white walls and boredom get to you after a while. At about 10pm, I was joined by a German comrade, who had also been in solitary and man,we were glad to see and talk to one another. It is indescribable how bored you get on your own and how priceless it is to have another human introduced to your environment, even after such a short while alone.

Following a long chat with each other, we drifted off to sleep on our concrete beds until we were rudely awoken at 3.30am. We were being transported to Butzau prison, over 100km and a world away and despite my protests (through German with the aid of my comrade) about receiving my court decision before I left, I was bundled into the back of a van and whisked away. We arrived at the prison at about 5am and were "processed" along with some German and French comrades. After processing we were led to our cells which were in complete disrepair with little obvious improvements since the prisons construction in 1835. However, thankfully, there was an actual bed, a luxury not to be found in Rostock and we slept like babies for hours and hours.

All day Friday was spent in the cell, with no time given for walkabout or fresh air. The wing we were in had been reserved for anti-G8 protesters only, to keep us away from the large fascist prison population, or rather them away from us. My cell comrade Gerome was released Friday evening along with some of the other Irish arrestees, but they had one more battle to face as a standoff between them and a local bunch of fascists which had gathered ensued before the police arrived to ensure their safe passage out of there.

After much sleeping and chatting with my French comrade Jeremie about everything under the sun that I could manage with my limited French and he with his similarly limited English, I was released at noon Saturday with Jeremie departing a few hours earlier. I was greeted by friendly lefties outside including my friend Sean who had gotten out the previous night, as well as by food, water and a car to get the fuck out of there.

I missed two flights out of Germany and ended up leaving on Monday.

It was all worth it. Fuck the G8!

Related:

☞ anti-G8..

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Scandal!! Chinese Communist Party and government is threatening S. Korean entrepreneurs with "labour rights for Chinese workers", i.e. expropriation, deportation, mass executions etc.. At least with a new (of course communist) Culture Revolution!!!
The Roh administration - aka the so-called "south Korean 'government'" (KCNA) - is considering to call an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council because of the feared, no doubt already scheduled massive violations (by the Red Guards, the PLA, etc..) of the human rights against (the poor) S. Korean exploiters..

"Let's march for the New Labour Law!

And if they (S.K. capitalists) don't want to listen..(*)

Well, it seems that S. Korean capitalists, who are involved in the exploitation of the Chinese working class are going crazy since they'd to learn that the gov't in Beijing is planning to pass a new stronger labour law. Just read following article, published in Korea Times (7.02):

Firms Worry Over China’s Labor Law

An alarm is ringing for Korean firms operating in China after Beijing passed a stronger labor law aimed at protecting workers' right last week.

When the new law goes into effect in January 2008, it will reduce labor flexibility and increase operational risks for Korean firms while improving the basic rights of local workers, experts say.

The impact is expected to be heavier on small independent firms that account for 98 percent of Korean businesses operating in China, while conglomerates and other big firms are better prepared for the change.

``The Chinese government has passed the Contract Labor Law that has a heavy focus on workers' rights. There is a high possibility that labor costs will go up for foreign firms,'' said Kim Kyung-yong, a senior manager of the Asian team at the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), an interest group representing some 65,000 companies. ``Firms have to cope with the changes while they still have the time to do so.''

Kim said KITA has invited a Korean lawyer based in Beijing to give a presentation on the new labor law today in Seoul. More than 250 firms have enrolled for the conference despite the short notice, he said.

The new law passed the Chinese legislature with strong support from the public after a series of reports were published on poor working conditions and compensation at workplaces. Most foreign firms have welcomed the law, at least on the surface.

The law has some provisions that can be considered too rigid to the eyes of Korean employers, who generally anticipate lower wages and less stringent labor regulations in China than here.

For example, the law will ensure people who have worked more than 15 years or ones within five years of retirement will not be fired in any eventuality. Also, interns and other probationary workers must be paid more than 80 percent of regular wages.

Workers can get a lifetime contract from their employers when they complete two short-term contracts. It also gives greater power to labor unions for collective bargaining and the implementation of new employment regulations...

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2007/07/123_5790.html

* ..be ready to smash them!!"

Related: 

☞ China's legislature approves new labor law (IHT, 6.29)

☞ China amends new labor law draft (Xinhua, 6.28)

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Today, June 29. Marking the end of the 5-day "general strike" against the ROK-US FTA and a (temporary) highlight: about 20,000 activists (according to Voice of People) - workers, farmers, students.. - took, since the early afternoon, the streets of Seoul..

Yonhap wrote: S. Korea hit by massive protests against FTA with U.S.

Tens of thousands of workers and anti-U.S. activists rallied Friday in central Seoul in monsoon rains to oppose a free trade agreement (FTA) between South Korea and the United States.
The rallies come on the heels of a five-day strike against the trade pact by unionized metal workers across the country.

In the early evening (around 6:30 pm) the rally turned into a "illegal demonstration" (so the cops) after about 1,500 activists took the streets near Anguk-dong. Thousands of riot cops were busy to block the protestors.. See the (Korean) report by Tongil News. Later between 2,000 and 3,000 activists occupied one of Seoul's main intersections (Boshin-gak/Jong-gak subway stn.).

(Source of the pics: VoP, OhmyNews, Tongil News)

More about today's rallies and demonstrations (in Korean):

☞ 노동자.농민 등 2만여명 서울 도심서 한미FTA저지 시위 (VoP)

☞ 한미FTA 체결 저지 범국민대회 (OhmyNews)

☞ 反FTA 대규모 전국 집회 개최 (P. Times, incl. many pics)

The S.K. bourgeois media about the strike:

☞ Hyundai Motor union workers strike for 2nd day (Yonhap)

☞ Anti-FTA labor strike grows on fourth day (JoongAng Ilbo)

☞ Hyundai, Kia Unions Join in 4-Hour Nationwide Strike (Chosun Ilbo)

Related:

Statement by "All Together" (다함께), released 6.20 (translated by "marc"/THANX a lot!!):

The government, conservative media and employers are going mad over shattering the strike of Steel Industries Union for detering the KORUS FTA. They are especially focusing their attack on Hyundai Motors branch which is in the leading position within the Union of Steel Industry.

One of the most disgusting logics they hold is that "(Union members) will get the most benefit in terms of the stability of their employment and the increase of their income", which is the same logic as what developed.
But it is not certain that KORUS FTA will increase the export of automobiles. Many people say that local production within the US has already been expanded and that the import of Japanese cars will be increased.

Even if the export to the US market increases, the workers will not be benefited automatically. Over the last few years, automobile export highly expanded, but the unstabilty of employment worsened and the number of casual workers increased. During this process, it was protest and strike that defended the employment and income of the laborors.

Most of all, the heart of KORUS FTA is in 'restructuring'. also emphasized that its heart is to make a system of competition in which more blood is shod and more casualties are created.

Conservative presses condemns this coming strike to be "an illegal, undemocratic and political strke which has not gone through the process of voting among the union members." However, it is a sensational lie. The strike was decided by the overwhelming support after democratic debates among the delegates elected by the union members. What is really undemocratic is the FTA negotiation process which was carried out without opening any information to the people.

☞ 한미FTA 반대 파업은 정당하다

Read also:

☞ 금속노조의'한미FTA 저지 총파업'을 사수하자! (노동자의힘, 6.22)

PS:

Despite "monsoon rains" (Yonhap News) the riot cops used also water cannons - or better said "mobile fountains"(??^^!!) against the demo: 

그야 말로
 
YOU SAY RAIN
WE SAY RAINBOW!