South Korea
Hyundai workers wildcat in South Korea
Workers at Hyundai (HMC) Ulsan plant in South Korea were on wildcat last week for higher wages.
The following is a report from a contact in Ulsan:
The Korean working class: From mass strike to casualization and retreat, 1987-2007
Loren Goldner on the history of the Korean working class during the past 20 years.
The Korean Working Class: From Mass Strike to Casualization and Retreat, 1987-2007
Loren Goldner
ABSTRACT
Korea: rail-workers, dockers and truckers call off strike
Unions for the three groups had arranged a coordinated strike action to begin today in support of their demands.
The government had declared the strike illegal and had mobilised hundreds of soldiers to try to keep the railways open over the weekend. This would have been the fourth such strike in South Korea since 2000. The unions have yet to confirm why they cancelled the action, with many workers told while they were preparing pickets only an hour before the official debut of action at 4am
Korea: Train attendants strike in longest, most bitter struggle by working women
On March 1, 2006, approximately four hundred women who work as train attendants on the KTX “bullet train” began a strike against casual working conditions.
Korea Railroad Corporation (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.
Korean workers riot in Vietnam, 1967
The riot by Korean workers at Vinnell Corporation, Cam Ranh Bay during the Vietnam War.
MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam, the U.S. command for all its military forces in Vietnam – ed.) had also been directed to start a civilianization program on September 15, 1967. South Vietnamese workers would be substituted for U.S. military support personnel in certain logistical units. There were many advantages. American manpower could be trimmed as technical expertise was shared.
Police seek arrest of Korean union leader
South Korean police said Monday they plan to seek a warrant to arrest the head of the union of Hyundai Motor Co., the country's No. 1 carmaker, for an alleged assault at a company event.
Arrest warrants will be sought for Park Yu-ki, the Hyundai Motor union leader, and two other union members over their alleged violence at the company's New Year ceremony on Jan. 4, police officials in this southeastern industrial city said.
Repression of Korean civil servants continues
The repression of the Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU) continues, with 125 out of the union's 251 local offices now shut down, often welded shut with iron bars and plates.
The Korean government declared the 140,000 member union illegal, after it refused to register under new union legislation curbing rights to strike and recruit. From September 22nd, the security services have been shutting down union offices and attacking members.
Korean hotel workers illegally outsourced
Workers at the Renaissance Hotel in Seoul wage an important struggle against outsourcing.
A determined group of hotel workers in Korea - 13 women and 2 men - are waging a critical battle against outsourcing.
Korean riot police raid union building
This morning, riot police broke through barricades that had been raised by union members and raided the offices of a South Korean trade union.
Following the crack down of the KGEU [Korean Government Employees' Union] Gangwon Hwacheon Chapter offices on October 2, today saw more attacks on the chapter of KGEU Gangwon Regional Branch. Today is a national holiday, the National Foundation Day of Korea.
1980: The Kwangju uprising
The history of the week-long uprising of the South Korean town of Kwangju against the regime of the West-backed dictator General Chun Doo-Hwan.
Though it was bloodily suppressed it helped ignite a chain of similar rebellions across Asia, winning people many democratic rights.
