When the miners said "We don't want to be slaves again"
On April 21st, 1980, miners and their supporters occupied Sabuk Coal Mine. It is not so known, even in South Korea, but I hope more people do.
After the 1973 oil crisis, which devastated South Korea, coal mines resurged. They were often run by greedy, selfish robber barons.
Mines were run 24/7, and most miners were forced to work almost 350 days every year, 8 hours a day. Miners and their wives called the mines "Vietnam"; they were literal battlefields. And when the miners died, the official reports noted the reason was "carelessness of the miners", and those who actually are responsible were left untouched.
Sabuk Coal Mine, the biggest private coal mine of the period, also was run similarly. Despite the embezzlement and tax evasion charges, the CEO earned more than he was fined by the court. On the other hand, the miners didn't even have a shower room.
Salary was paid by incentive system, but the bosses literally cheated on the measurements of mined coal amounts to pay less salary. Furthermore, all the food markets and stores near the mine were owned by the Sabuk Coal Mine CEO family, which conveniently ripped off the miners with blatantly overcharged prices. Starting from Rockefeller family, this tactics still is used by capitalists over the world to exploit the miners.
The mine further was affiliated with KCIA (Korean CIA, now known as NIS) and the police. They bribed the local police officers to hide the corruption, and KCIA agents infiltrated the union.
The union was fully compromised. They sided with the company every single time.
The mood changed in 1979, as Park Chung-Hee, former military dictator of South Korea, was suddenly assassinated. Union organizations surged, and so did class consciousness.
It was April of 1980 when the wage compromise with the (company-controlled, known in Korean as 어용노조) union and the company occurred. Since there was a huge inflation in 1979, 42.75% wage raise demanded by the national union confederation still was too low for the coal miners. And yet, the local branch leader, a puppet of the company, betrayed the miners by agreeing with 20% raise deal suggested by the company.
On April 18th, when the miners learned this news, they furiously gathered in front of the union office. After a moment of talks, it was agreed that the union branch leader would explain the situations on April 21st, and the police would allow the protest that day.
Both were lies.
On April 21st, when the miners, not knowing the protest was prohibited, came to the office, the union leader was absent.
The miners occupied the union office, quickly besieged by the police. As the number of protesters gained, the mood got more aggressive.
Some of the police started retreating by the jeep. When the unionists tried to stop the jeep, they ran over them, severly injuring two.
Other cops also soon retreated, not healing the injured miners. The state, is the enemy of the workers.
The miners went berserk. They raided the police office, and punched the bootlickers. Their wives, mine retirees, and residents of about 6K number soon joined the protest.
Next day, the cops tried to enter Sabuk, attacking protesters with tear gas, which blew back to the cops. Miners and wives threw bricks and rocks. One cop died, and more were injured.
The protesters, while maintaining the order, also guarded the reservist army armory and the mine dynamite keep, for the last moment.
However, the government was planning to deploy the spec ops. Since the military coup of December 12th, the spec ops (airborne troops) of ROKA were trained by the military government solely to attack any protester on sight when a pro-democracy uprising happens (which was realized in Gwamgju).
Knowing they have no chance of winning, the protesters compromised with the cops on April 24th. Most demands by the miners were satisfied.
News was heavily censored, and all the words were "violence" "chaos" "anarchy". After the protest, the cops arrested and tortured hundreds of miners.
However, this remains one of the first massive workers' strike before the implementation of bourgeoisie democracy in South Korea, and it directly inspired post-1987 labor union movements.
너는 듣고 있는가, 분노한 민중의 노래?
Do you hear the people sing, singing a song of angry men?
다시는 노예처럼 살 수 없다 외치는 소리!
It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again!
심장 박동 요동쳐 북소리 되어 울릴 때,
When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums,
내일이 열려 밝은 아침이 오리라!
There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!
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