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Mar. 29  2024
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POWER COMPANIES SHOULD STOP OPPRESSION OF ELECTRICITY WORKERS UNION

On May 24th, the Korean Progressive Network (Jinbonet), the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU), the Electricity Workers Union, and the Korean Federation of Transportation, Public, & Social Service Workers' Union prosecuted the power companies because the felt that the companies' conduct constituted an unfair action which the labor law bans.

Source  :  Jinbonet

When striking power workers ended their 38 day strike on April 3, they returned to work to find that office and home access to their union website (as well as several other labour websites and social groups websites) had been blocked by their companies. Korea Southern Power Co. Ltd., Korea Western Power Co., Ltd., Korea Midland Co.,Ltd., Korea East-West Power Co. and Ltd. Korea South-East Power Co.and Ltd. have blocked IP addresses of progressive groups websites since that time, namely the Korean Progressive Network (Jinbonet), the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the Electricity Workers Union, and the Korean Federation of Transportation Public & Social Service Workers' Union in an attempt to censor "incendiary" information from workers. At the time of writing (June 20) the block was still in place.

The companies have asserted that it is their right to censor any information that they want within the confines of the company property. Moreover, they state that the fact that the stike was illegal effectively removes the rights of the workers to freedom of speech, privacy, and to communicate freely (ignoring the fact that an employer cannot legally contradict a worker's constitutionally entrenched rights as citizen's rights take precedence over so called "boss' rights"). The legality of the strike is completely beside the issue. The fact that the government considers the workers strike illegal should not give the employers license to flagrantly override their worker's constitutional rights. Furthermore, the blocking of selected websites is tantamount to surveillance, which constitutes violence to the rights of workers' unity and privacy and is also an infringement of the Communication Privacy Protection Act.

On May 24th, the Korean Progressive Network (Jinbonet), the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU), the Electricity Workers Union, and the Korean Federation of Transportation, Public, & Social Service Workers' Union prosecuted the power companies because the felt that the companies' conduct constituted an unfair action which the labor law bans.

May 28, 2002
-Joint Committee against Government Internet Censorship (54 organizations are participating in this committee (http://www.nocensor.org)
- Coalition Alliance Against the Surveillance of Workers (http://gamsi.net)
2002 / -0 / 6-
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