occupations
Articles about direct action in the form of occupations, including sit-ins and sit down strikes.
Ssangyong motors strike in South Korea ends in defeat and heavy repression
Loren Goldner's analysis and overview of the defeated strike and occupation of the Ssangyong Motors plant against job cuts.
The Ssangyong Motor Company strike and plant occupation in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, ended after 77 days on Aug. 5. For the 976 workers who seized the small auto plant on May 22 and held it against repeated quasi-military assault, the settlement signed by Ssangyong court receivership manager Park Young-tae and local union president Han Sang-kyun represented a near-total defeat.
Flint 1936-7: Diary of a Sitdowner
The diary of one of the striking General Motors workers who occupied their factories between December 1936 and February 1937.
General Motors' sit-in strikers' thoughts inside Fisher Body #2 – Flint, Mi
Written by Francis O'Rourke
December 30, 1936 – 6:45 a.m.
Resistance to hospital closures grows - European Counter Network
Report on several November 1992 demonstrations and a ward occupation by nurses, against proposed hospital closures.
A government sponsored report on the health service in London has recommended the closure of at least four major hospitals and ten or more smaller units. If the Tomlinson report is implemented, 2500 hospital beds will be lost immediately, and 20,000 hospital workers may lose their jobs.
Land seizure in Eastern China leads to clashes
More than 3,000 villagers in Zhejiang province of eastern China blocked a highway and clashed with police as they protested against alleged official corruption in a land compensation deal according to a human rights monitor and a witness.
Ten residents of Shipu town were injured in the clash with more than 300 riot police on the 25th of July, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said in a faxed statement.
Ssangyong occupation has ended: August 6, 2009
Once the fierce fighting ended yesterday (August 5, 2009), 100 strikers left the occupation throughout the night (many out of disgust at the ruthlessness of the state and company's violence). At the end of the negotiations last week, management's last offer was 60% of the workers would accept voluntary retirement (or termination) with 40% taking an unpaid furlough until they're called back. Negotiations began today at 11:00 a.m., with the union now agreeing to retirement for 52%, with 48% for the furlough. The strike is over and the occupiers will leave the factory any minute.
***Update August 6, 2009: the strike & occupation has come to an end on its 77th day***
It ended at 2:50 p.m. Korea time (30 minutes ago).
Ssangyong occupation update: August 5, 2009
The final battle will come shortly. Serious injuries occurred today. The only remaining occupied factory building is the paint department, with about 500 strikers defending it. The cops have taken control of all the rest of the surrounding buildings. The crackdown on the strikers has been extremely brutal.
***Update August 5, 2009 4:30 p.m. (Korea time)***
Condition of workers mentioned in previous thread: one fell going from roof to roof and broke his vertebrae, as well as head injuries. Serious, but not life-threatening. 2 others fell from roof, but injuries were not as serious. But 30 others, on both sides, were injured and needed medical attention.
Thomas Cook Dublin: Workers Released
The 28 workers arrested this morning for occupying the Grafton Street outlet of Thomas Cook were released this afternoon after agreeing not to resume their occupation or damage the property of Thomas Cook.
On Friday 31 July Thomas Cook managers and security went to close down shops in Dublin at 10 a.m. Over 70 staff were sacked and offered an appalling 5 weeks redundancy pay with the threat that it would be dropped to two weeks if the workers did not accept it. Staff in two of the outlets then occupied their workplaces in response.
Protests due after police raid Thomas Cook occupation in Dublin
Protests have been called at short notice in Dublin and Belfast after 28 workers occupying Thomas Cook offices in Dublin's Grafton Street fighting jobs cuts were arrested this morning.
Protesting former workers at travel operator Thomas Cook in Dublin were arrested after after early-morning Garda raids for defying a court order to end a four-day sit-in at company premises in a dispute over redundancy payments.
Ssangyong occupation update: August 4 (Korea time), 2009
***Real Time Update***
Right now a special division of 2,500 police are engaged in an assault on the occupied factory. The cops have removed most barricades and are using aerial ladders to attempt to reach the fortified roof positions of the strikers. 3 helicopters are supporting the cop attack. Hand-to-hand battles are presently occurring and the strikers are fighting back with molotov cocktails. Due to the intensity of the fighting, there will probably be many casualties -- and possibly fatalities.
***Real Time Update (August 4, 2009; 1:30 p.m. Korea time)***
Ssangyong occupation update: August 2, 2009
Talks between management and striking workers who've been occupying the factory have broken down. Electricity has also been turned off, in addition to water which was cut off two weeks ago.
From the Korea Times (with an obvious pro-company bias):
08-02-2009 18:15
Ssangyong Faces Liquidation After Labor Talks Fail
By Kim Rahn, Park Si-soo
Staff Reporters
Troubled Ssangyong Motor faces liquidation after last-ditch negotiations between management and union members representing laid-off workers collapsed Sunday.
