Read this article in:
13 November, 2000Korean shipyard workers are fighting against lawbreakers.
KOREA, REP: The Hyundai Heavy Industry (Shipbuilding Industry) Workers' Union has asked via the Korean Metal Workers' Federation (KMWF) for international solidarity in their struggle against Hyundai Heavy Industry, a company having the biggest shipyard in the world. 20,000 union members in Ulsan are currently fighting this labour lawbreaker in order to secure workers' rights.
The union had been involved in collective bargaining since July 2000 but had to close negotiations at the end of September, following which the union prepared a vote for workers' consensus on industrial action.
A full-scale war between the union and company developed when the union began the voting procedure for this workers' consensus on November 8. The union set up eight ballot boxes in the workers' cafeteria, restaurant and plant entrances, but the company organised hundreds of scabs to prevent union members from voting. Union officers tried to hold back the scabs, but the president of the union was bitten and many union members were injured by these scabs.
Every day union officers and organisers are being threatened with violence. According to the KMWF, a consultant for Hyundai Heavy Industry, Chung Mong-jun, has never tried to find an amicable solution, and the company continues to refuse the reinstatement of 18 workers, including Lee Kap-yong, former president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and Oh Jong-seoi, current vice-president of the KMWF, who were dismissed because they were trade union activists.
The KMWF is currently stepping up its nationwide campaign against Hyundai Heavy Industry. KMWF activists and Hyundai union members are planning to visit the offices of the Korean National Assembly, of which Chung Mong-jun is a member, the Korea Soccer Association, of which Chung is in charge, and the FIFA (the International Football Federation) in Geneva. (South Korea and Japan are hosting the World Football Championship in 2002.)
The KMWF is asking for protest letters to be sent to:
Chung Mong-jun
Assemblyman
Korean National Assembly
No. 720, House for Members of National Assembly
No. 1 Yeoye-do-dong, Yongdeong-po-ku
Republic of Korea
Fax: ++82/2 788-3720
Tel: ++82/2 788-2770
with a copy to:
Director
Human Resources Dept.
Hyundai Heavy Industry
No. 1 Junha-dong, Dong-ku
Ulsan, Republic of Korea
fax: ++82/52 230-3433
The union had been involved in collective bargaining since July 2000 but had to close negotiations at the end of September, following which the union prepared a vote for workers' consensus on industrial action.
A full-scale war between the union and company developed when the union began the voting procedure for this workers' consensus on November 8. The union set up eight ballot boxes in the workers' cafeteria, restaurant and plant entrances, but the company organised hundreds of scabs to prevent union members from voting. Union officers tried to hold back the scabs, but the president of the union was bitten and many union members were injured by these scabs.
Every day union officers and organisers are being threatened with violence. According to the KMWF, a consultant for Hyundai Heavy Industry, Chung Mong-jun, has never tried to find an amicable solution, and the company continues to refuse the reinstatement of 18 workers, including Lee Kap-yong, former president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and Oh Jong-seoi, current vice-president of the KMWF, who were dismissed because they were trade union activists.
The KMWF is currently stepping up its nationwide campaign against Hyundai Heavy Industry. KMWF activists and Hyundai union members are planning to visit the offices of the Korean National Assembly, of which Chung Mong-jun is a member, the Korea Soccer Association, of which Chung is in charge, and the FIFA (the International Football Federation) in Geneva. (South Korea and Japan are hosting the World Football Championship in 2002.)
The KMWF is asking for protest letters to be sent to:
Chung Mong-jun
Assemblyman
Korean National Assembly
No. 720, House for Members of National Assembly
No. 1 Yeoye-do-dong, Yongdeong-po-ku
Republic of Korea
Fax: ++82/2 788-3720
Tel: ++82/2 788-2770
with a copy to:
Director
Human Resources Dept.
Hyundai Heavy Industry
No. 1 Junha-dong, Dong-ku
Ulsan, Republic of Korea
fax: ++82/52 230-3433