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20 August, 2000Officials of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announce the successful conclusion of the 74-day strike at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul.
KOREA, REP: The Lotte Hotel strike, the first-ever at a five-star luxury hotel, popular among foreign visitors, began June 9 after management unilaterally called off the annual collective bargaining negotiations on wages and other working conditions.
About 1,000 unionised workers, or one-third of the hotel's employees, had staged a sit-in strike both within and outside the hotel since then.
On August 20, 2000 - the 74th day of the strike and the 54th day since the unprecedented raid, on June 29, on the striking workers by the special anti-terrorist squad of the police - the Hotel Lotte Workers' Union achieved victory in the dispute.
Management had dismissed some 60 trade unionists for participating in the strike. The agreement commits management to reinstate these workers and to minimise possible disciplinary action against the union's leadership. The 23 temporary employees whose employment contract was nullified by management due to their participation in the strike will also be reversed.
The resolve of the KCTU was demonstrated by the decision of its president, Dan Byung-ho, to undertake a hunger strike. He was hospitalised on August 17, the 22nd day of the hunger strike, for fear of irrevocable damage to his health. Read an exclusive interview with Dan Byung-ho in Metal World No.2/2000.
About 1,000 unionised workers, or one-third of the hotel's employees, had staged a sit-in strike both within and outside the hotel since then.
On August 20, 2000 - the 74th day of the strike and the 54th day since the unprecedented raid, on June 29, on the striking workers by the special anti-terrorist squad of the police - the Hotel Lotte Workers' Union achieved victory in the dispute.
Management had dismissed some 60 trade unionists for participating in the strike. The agreement commits management to reinstate these workers and to minimise possible disciplinary action against the union's leadership. The 23 temporary employees whose employment contract was nullified by management due to their participation in the strike will also be reversed.
The resolve of the KCTU was demonstrated by the decision of its president, Dan Byung-ho, to undertake a hunger strike. He was hospitalised on August 17, the 22nd day of the hunger strike, for fear of irrevocable damage to his health. Read an exclusive interview with Dan Byung-ho in Metal World No.2/2000.