13 January, 2011South Korean GM Daewoo workers engage in a high-altitude sit-in protest for over one month. For more than three years precarious workers at GM Daewoo have continuously faced dismissals and union repression. The IMF joins with the Korean Metal Workers' Union in calls for international support.
SOUTH KOREA: The International Metalworkers' Federation joins with the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) in calls for international support for the ongoing irregular workers' struggle at GM Daewoo in South Korea. On December 1, 2010, two members of KMWU's GM Daewoo Irregular Workers' Chapter climbed the arch that stands 10 metres above the entrance of the factory in Bupyeong and began a high-altitude sit-in protest. In addition, Sin Hyeon-chang, President of the GM Daewoo Irregular Workers' Chapter, began a hunger strike, camping out overnight near the factory.
The precariously employed workers are demanding union recognition at the plant and the reinstatement of workers dismissed as a means to break the union and the regularization of employment at GM Daewoo. The right of workers to form and join trade unions of their choosing is protected under the South Korean Constitution, a fact which GM Daewoo is ignoring. Moreover, the Korean Supreme Court recently recognized that workers employed by in-house subcontractors for more than two years should be considered directly employed by the company for which they actually produce.
The management of GM Daewoo has refused to address these issues and continuously rejects requests by the KMWU for negotiations. The company has also rejected requests for a meeting by a support committee composed of local civil society organizations. In addition, police officers stationed near the protest site have prevented supporters from lifting weatherproofing equipment up to the workers situated on the arch. They are now suffering from hypothermia and frostbite in what may be a life-threatening situation.
IMF has written to the GM Daewoo management in Korea (see letter on website here), demanding it meet and negotiate with the KMWU and regularize the employment of the subcontracted workers at the plant.
The KMWU asks for messages of solidarity to be sent to: [email protected] and [email protected].
Send letters of protest demanding GM Daewoo negotiate with the workers and address their demands to:
GM Daewoo President Mike Arcamone,
199-1 Cheongcheon-dong,
Bupyeong-gu,
Incheon City,
403-714,
Republic of Korea
[email protected].
Please send copies to [email protected] and [email protected] and [email protected]