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Korean Railway Workers are Being Forced to Strike

The Korean railway workers, who have had two experiences of strike -July 1988 and June 1994- are facing once again a situation where a strike seems inevitable. Strikes by railway workers have severe effect throughout society, by paralysing transportation of people and goods. Going on a strike is also a very difficult decision for workers to make. In 1994, workers were forcefully arrested by the police for pre-mentioning a strike. After the strike, 60 workers were fired, thousands were penalised and hundreds were transferred to other regions.

However, for the railway workers, there is no other choice. The working conditions of workers have deteriorated and plans for privatisation are being speeded up. Last December, the government delayed the enactment of the Railway Privatisation Act due to hard public opposition. But now, the government is again pushing for the passage of the Act, and the Act is scheduled to be passed at the standing committee sessions of the National Assembly.

The anger of the workers is on the verge of explosion. We can no longer ignore the wretched working conditions that jeopardise the lives of workers and the privatisation that will neglect public qualities of the railway for the benefit of a handful of foreign capital. With the Korean National Railway unwilling to make sincere efforts for negotiations, the Workers' Union has broken off all talks with them and has requested direct discussions with the government. If the government does not answer to our three demands -withdrawal of plans and legislations which push for the privatisation of railway, improvement of working conditions of railway workers, and reinstatement of laid-off workers- we, the 25,000 railway workers will go on a general strike on 25th February, together with the workers in other core national industries such as gas and electricity.

The Demands of the Railway Worker's Union

The Korean railway workers have three basic demands -the withdrawal of plans and legislations that push for privatisation of the railway, improvement of working conditions, and reinstatement of laid-off workers.

◇ Withdrawal of privatisation

* From 1997 until 2001, the Korean government and the KNR drew up and promoted 'Plans for the Renovation in Management of the Railway'. In May 1999, the Cabinet decided on the privatisation of the railway, based on the division of tracks and operation. On 4th December 2001, the Cabinet consolidated the Railway Privatisation Act, which was then submitted to the National Assembly. The Act is scheduled to be presented the Standing Committees on 25th February 2002.

* The government has acknowledged that privatisation of railway is being promoted not so much from a perspective based on 'improvement of transportation', but from a standpoint of 'revising the structure of the public sector' that is being promoted as part of the Structural Adjustment Program enforced after the economic crisis of 1997, in accordance with the demands of US and transnational capital. Privatisation plans that are being pushed for political reasons cannot have any positive prospects.

* Basing the privatisation on European models, the government plans to integrate the ordinary and high-speed rails, and privatise the Korean railway by dividing the tracks and operation. However, not only is this model unrealistic and far from being absolute, it will also ignore the investment responsibilities of the government by basing its policies on the interests of private capital. As a result, unprofitable routes will be abolished, investment into infrastructure will be neglected, quality of service will deteriorate while prices rise, and safety will be jeopardised.

* The Public Service Obligation Grant(PSO) is an instrument with the objective of strengthening public qualities of the rail service. The government argues that public qualities will remain even after privatisation, but we know that this is not true. In the case of British Rail, government subsidies increased after privatisation, but the finances went into the pockets of private capital, not to strengthening public qualities.

* The Paddington Station collision accident pertained to the lack of investment into safety measures in order to decrease costs and increase profit. The government is arguing that safety has nothing to do with privatisation. However, the railway is an integrated system that has to be developed as thus for it to be free from danger. What is imperative for the Korean railway, is not privatisation in the interests of private capital, but government's increased attention and investment into the efficient and safe public transportation system.

* Last year alone, 31 railway workers died from industrial accidents. At the unjust deaths, the KNR merely argues that the accidents came from personal carelessness. However, the recent abrupt increase in the number of industrial accidents attains to the reduction of the workforce that has been promoted as part of the privatisation process. From 1996 until 2001, 7,739 workers have been laid-off. The management argues that the cut in workforce is inevitable to meet profit losses. However, financial data show that the reduction in the workforce has made no difference in overcoming financial difficulties.

* Privatisation of the national railway is a policy that goes against the people, in that it impairs the original role of the railway of providing cheap but safe transportation. It is also an anti-workers policy, in that it brings about endless reduction in workforce, intensification of workload and instability of labour. With the prospective of developing the standard of transportation and promoting welfare for its citizens, the government should increase investment into railway infrastructure and reform the corruption and bureaucracy of the KNR management through the participation of workers.

◇ Improvement of working conditions

* We have three demands for the improvement of working conditions -reduction of working hours, change in work formation and enlargement of the workforce.

* At the moment, Korean railway workers work hours that are one of the highest in the world, without holidays. Although the Standard Labour Law stipulates that "workers should work 8 hours a day, 44 hours a week and should be given at least one day of paid holiday per week", the reality of railway workers is far from the law. Almost half the workers still work under the system of '2 group 2 shift', while the minimum working hour for operators still stand at 192 hours per month. On average, railway workers work 63 hours per week. Because of the lack of workers, operators and track workers sometimes have to work up to 75 hours per week.

* Workers are also suffering from the irregular transformational working time system and the 24-hour shift. Many workers have become ill from lack of sleep and fatigue. A survey found that 68% of the workers demand abolition of the transformational working time system, but the management only repeats that "there is no choice".

* We demand that the transformational working time system be abolished and the 8-hour working day be introduced. We demand the shift be changed to '3 group 2 shift' system, and the procurement of paid holidays.

* We also demand for the reinforcement of the workforce. Although there have been new constructions and projects, there has not been an increase in the number of workers. Because of the immense workload, workers cannot get enough rest,, which eventually results in increase of industrial accidents.

◇ Reinstatement of laid-off workers

* A total of 58 workers have been laid off for being related to trade union activities. They were laid off during the strikes of 1988 and 1994, and during the struggles for direct vote. The demands that laid-off workers were shouting -"8 hour workday! Application of Standard Labour Law! Abolition of transformational working time system!"- are no different from our demands today. During the last 14 years, not one of these workers have been reinstated. Our struggles will not end until all the laid-off workers have been reinstated.