CINA

본문

THE STRUGGLE OF

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN POHANG

IS STILL CONTINUING!!

Workers' rallies in southern city reach breaking point (Hankyoreh, 8.07)

Rallies in Pohang increasing in number and violence

Although a union workers' occupation of POSCO headquarters in Pohang, North Gyeongsang province, has come to an end, the crisis at the large steel manufacturer continues. Police and unionists clashed at a mass rally on August 4 organized by the construction labor union and Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the country's second-largest umbrella labor group. About 100 were injured. The union plans to hold another large-scale rally on Wednesday(*). Pohang is in a full state of crisis.

Construction workers in Pohang expressed hopelessness and rage at the situation when talked to by the Hankyoreh. Lee, 47, who has worked for 13 years at POSCO construction sites, became furious when someone mentioned Ha Jung-geun, who died after being hit on the head by shields wielded by riot police. "There is only a person who was beaten to death; there was 'no one' who hit him," Lee said, referring to the fact that no blame has been placed so far in the incident. "I want to turn over the government and POSCO" to be prosecuted, said Lee.

It has been 37 days since construction workers in Pohang went on strike. But there is not any sign of an impending solution. The workers were asking for raise and improvement in labor conditions, but now new issues have emerged, such as worker's compensation disputes and how arrested unionists will be dealt with. Added to this is dispute over Ha's death.

POSCO construction projects at the Hyeongsan River have been stopped for about 20 days. After the workers' occupation of the POSCO main office ended, the strike was expected to wane. The number of participants in the strike, however, is still at over 3,500.

Oh Hi-taek, an official of the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU), said that "negotiations with subcontractors are likely to be made, but POSCO, which has the key to the solution, has refused to budge an inch. Unless POSCO moves, there cannot be any improvement in negotiations."

Some experts suggested the hard-line approach: to make POSCO move, another clash between the union and authorities is unavoidable. Park, 52, a civil engineering worker, said, "Many unionists think that we should stage a sit-down demonstration."

According to industry experts, the problem stems from all sides. The government, labor, management and all citizens should practice self-examination and make an effort to solve the conflict, the experts said.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/147406.html

Here a report by Voice of People about last Friday's demonstration and clashes in Pohang:

Laborers' Rally against Riot Police's Violence 

* 하중근열사 정신계승! 살인경찰폭력 규탄! 전국노동자대회

시간: 2006-08-09 오후 3:00

장소: 포항 동국대병원 앞 (**)

KCTU published 6 days ago(8.02) following:

KCTU/KFCITU Action Alert : Union Member dies due to severe beating by riot police

"포항 전투!!"

자본가, 지배계급의 노동자착취 구조

강화하고 있는 노무현 정권의 오만한 무력진압에 맞선 투쟁
(8월 4일 포항 상황)

Documentary by 숲속홍길동同志

For more informations, but "only" in Korean, please check out

KFCITU's(전국건설사무노동조합) home page: http://www.kfcitu.org

****

** PS(8.09):

Here you can read(in Korean) the first report about today's demonstration in Pohang:

하중근 살인 경찰폭력규탄 전국노동자대회 개최 (Voice of People)