South Korea
Workers' struggles around Asia (October 2009)
A round-up of links to reports about workers' struggles in Cambodia, Korea and Thailand.
I apologise for not being as thorough as usual, but my PC was stolen last month, I was without internet for two weeks, and tomorrow I'm going on holiday. Hopefully I can go back to normal in December, here's what I've found over the last couple of week:s
Interesting article on labour rights NGOs trying to use corporate social responsibility programs.
Ssangyong occupier jailed
A union member from Ssangyong Motors involved in the strike and occupation of the plant against job losses was sentenced to one and a half years in prison on Friday.
The defendant, identified only by his surname Kim, was tried as one of the ringleaders of the occupation of the company's Pyeongtaek factory.
The Suwon District Court convicted Kim of incurring 2.29 billion won (1.96 million USD) in damages to the automaker and destroying 10 million won worth of office furniture.
Workers' struggles around Asia (September 2009)
A round-up of links to reports about workers' struggles around Asia (excluding China). Updated 1/10/2009.
This month where has been news from Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Indonesia and far eastern Russia. And now additional news courtesy of Welt in Umwaelzung (listed first).
Indonesia
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.
Ssangyong occupation audio interview with Loren Goldner
Audio interview conducted with Loren Goldner by alternative radio in the aftermath of the two-month occupation of the Ssangyong motor plant by workers against job cuts.
Listen to the MP3 here:
http://www.archive.org/download/InterviewWithLorenGoldnerOnSouthKoreaWorkersOccupationOfSsangyong/mediahacker_korea__ssangyong_loren_goldner_interview.mp3
Or here:
http://radio.indymedia.org/uploads/mediahacker_korea__ssangyong_loren_goldner_interview.mp3
from www.mediahacker.org
Ssangyong occupation update: day five, July 24, 2009
Today it became apparent that with the constant spraying of teargas tainted with thinner, strikers are suffering from their skin blistering and peeling off with an extreme burning sensation. With no water in the occupied factory to wash off the toxins, it is becoming a severe health problem. There was also a tripartite meeting between government, Ssangyong management, and the union. The company bosses refused to negotiate until the occupation ends, stating that they won't back down on the layoffs.
Today, 24 July 2009, is Day Five of the battle over the occupied Ssangyong Motors factory at Pyeongtaek in South Korea.
Ssangyong occupation update: day four, July 23, 2009
This report, from yesterday, is about the 3rd day of the police attack to evict the occupiers of the Ssangyong Motors factory at Pyeongtaek in South Korea. The cops and the strikebreaking gangsters ("kkang-pae") have resorted to using taser guns on individual strikers, in addition to using helicopters to spray a thinner-based teargas liquid directly onto the strikers on the roof of the occupied paint department.
(translated from the website of SSanyong Branch of Korean Metal Worker Union, http://sym.nodong.org/)
3rd day of cop assault on the factory
[Slogan spray painted on top of paint department building says: "Kill us all if you don't want negotiation"]
Korean police fail to break Ssangyong factory occupation
South Korean police were not able to carry through with a pledge to enter a Ssangyong Motor Co. factory, which has been occupied by fired workers for almost two months, as the carmaker tries to resume production at the plant.
About 800 fired employees were still in a paint shop, confronting more than 3,000 police as of 5:22p.m. in Seoul, Ssangyong spokesman Cha Ki Woong said by phone at the plant in Pyeongtaek, where the automaker is based.
Korean Sanggyong strike up against the wall
The Ssangyong Motors strike in Pyeongtaek, South Korea (near Seoul), is now in its eighth week, and the situation of the strikers is increasingly dire.
Loren Goldner
July 17
(The following article reports “just the facts”, based on communications from workers and other activists involved in the struggle.)
The Ssangyong Motors strike in Pyeongtaek, South Korea (near Seoul), is now in its eighth week, and the situation of the strikers is increasingly dire.
Pyeongtaek strike continues in South Korea
A strike now completing its fourth week at Ssangyong Motors in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, remains a standoff as of this writing. The strike echoes in many ways the dynamic seen in the recent Visteon struggle in the UK and in battles over auto industry restructuring around the world. Involving, on the other hand, an outright factory seizure and occupation, and preparation for violent defense of the plant if necessary, it is the first struggle of its kind in South Korea for years.
Loren Goldner
(June 19)
