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6 April, 2000Production in all South Korean car plants has come to a standstill, as the April workers' "struggle" gets underway.
KOREA, REP: According to a press release issued on April 6 by the IMF-affiliated Korean Metal Workers' Federation, 80,000 Korean autoworkers began a joint general strike on April 6 which is to last until April 12.
Daewoo Motor workers have already been on strike for one week, due to their opposition to the planned sale of the automaker to a foreign buyer. Now carworkers from the other Korean auto firms -- Ssang-yong Auto Company (Daewoo subsidiary), Hyundai Motor and Kia Motor (Hyundai subsidiary) are adding their support.
When it was first announced in late 1999 that Daewoo would probably be sold to an overseas buyer, the trade union leadership of the four auto unions formed an alliance committee to organise a joint struggle against this decision. The unions say that a highly competitive foreign carmaker would dominate the Korean market, leading to more job insecurity. They also charge the Korean government with failing to properly regulate foreign investors in their rush to attract more investment from abroad, thus increasing strain in industrial relations. The 80,000 carworkers are demanding that Daewoo become a publicly-owned company.
Should this struggle of the KMWF's members bear fruit, it could also affect the results of the April 13 general elections. Also, says the KMWF, if they link this struggle to the KCTU general strike in May, "it will help advance the October transfer from an enterprise-based to industrial-based union structure."
Daewoo Motor workers have already been on strike for one week, due to their opposition to the planned sale of the automaker to a foreign buyer. Now carworkers from the other Korean auto firms -- Ssang-yong Auto Company (Daewoo subsidiary), Hyundai Motor and Kia Motor (Hyundai subsidiary) are adding their support.
When it was first announced in late 1999 that Daewoo would probably be sold to an overseas buyer, the trade union leadership of the four auto unions formed an alliance committee to organise a joint struggle against this decision. The unions say that a highly competitive foreign carmaker would dominate the Korean market, leading to more job insecurity. They also charge the Korean government with failing to properly regulate foreign investors in their rush to attract more investment from abroad, thus increasing strain in industrial relations. The 80,000 carworkers are demanding that Daewoo become a publicly-owned company.
Should this struggle of the KMWF's members bear fruit, it could also affect the results of the April 13 general elections. Also, says the KMWF, if they link this struggle to the KCTU general strike in May, "it will help advance the October transfer from an enterprise-based to industrial-based union structure."