2 Weeks of Labor Unrest Ahead
Opening two weeks of demonstrations, workers belonging to state corporations rallied Sunday at Seoul Station to protest the government's privatization plans.
Source : http://english.joins.com
≪ Workers at state corporations who belong to two umbrella labor groups raise their fists in protest Sunday at Seoul Station.
by Shin Dong-jae
Opening two weeks of demonstrations, workers belonging to state corporations rallied Sunday at Seoul Station to protest the government's privatization plans.
Fearing job instability and calling for a five-day work week, 15,000 workers at state corporations belonging to the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the more-militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions later marched to Myongdong Cathedral.
Joining in the rally were unions at state corporations including the Korea Electric Power Corporation, where workers are threatening to go on strike Thursday unless the government withdraws plans to privatize the electricity monopoly.
The rally Sunday presented a vivid picture of the volatile labor sector as the government holds firm to its plans for completing economic restructuring.
In protest of the government's program, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions walked out of a tripartite commission on labor Nov. 11.
The two umbrella labor union's have scheduled a series of rallies and limited strikes, some 10 of them through early December.
The government, led by President Kim Dae-jung, said Sunday that it will deal sternly with illegal strikes.
It plans to complete financial and corporate restructuring by the end of this year. It aims to complete the restructuring of government corporations and the labor sector by February. The program was undertaken as a response to the financial crisis that began in late 1997 and lasted two years.
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions, which has about 850,000 members, has already announced a general strike Dec. 8. Leading up to that date, the series of rallies and limited strikes include a rally of trade unions at government corporations on Thursday and a warning strike on Dec. 5.
The Korean Confederation of Trade unions, smaller in membership at 560,000 but more militant, has declared this week as "focus combat week."
For four days, Wednesday through Saturday, the confederation will stage rallies or limited strikes by construction, university and bank workers.
2000 / -1 / 1-
|
