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9 September, 2001IMF editors and press officers, meeting in Seoul, give their solidarity support to members of the FKMTU and KMWU, who are experiencing great difficulties due to the economic crisis and downturn.
KOREA, REP: IMF editors and press officers, currently attending the 12th IMF Editors' Meeting in Seoul from September 7-10, heard today (September 10) appeals for solidarity support from both IMF-affiliated organisations in Korea - the Korean Metal Workers' Federation (KMWF) and the Federation of Korean Metalworkers' Trade Unions (FKMTU).
On a visit to the vast plant site of Hynix Semiconductor in Icheon, south of the capital, the Hynix trade union, which is a member of the FKMTU, described to the group the worsening working conditions and job insecurity that workers there are facing due to the economic crisis and downturn. The transnational company, formerly known as Hyundai Electronics and presently one of the world's largest semiconductor companies, is experiencing serious financial problems, with excessive loans and accumulated debts. Due to restructuring, approximately 6,845 workers of a total workforce of 22,000 have been made redundant at the Icheon plant in the last seven months, although they were found jobs in other operations of the company.
The FKMTU and its umbrella organisation, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, have requested intervention from the AFL-CIO in the U.S. in the form of pressure on the U.S. government, which is said to have attempted to influence decisions of credit banks there regarding Hynix. In a letter to the U.S. labour group, the unions said that "all should worry about the side effects in an intertwined global economy. The bankruptcy of such a company can have a domino effect on others and in a certain sense on the whole structure of the global economy." The Hynix union and the FKMTU are pushing for further education and training for workers made redundant.
The IMF delegation, representing 40 editors and press officers from 13 countries, then travelled to Inchon, west of Seoul, to the Daewoo Motor plant in Pupyong, the scene of militant trade union activity over the last years due to the growing number of layoffs there (out of a former workforce of 18,000 at the Pupyong plant, only 7,000 remain) and to the struggle of the Daewoo Motor Workers' Union and the KMWF against the proposed takeover by General Motors of the bankrupt carmaker.
Hired security guards and police prevented the journalists from entering the premises of the plant, but after a visit to the office of the 12,000-member DMWU (also surrounded by police and hired thugs), the delegation proceeded to the nearby Sangok Cathedral, where eight leaders of the union have taken refuge since February of this year, when police issued arrest warrants for them.
The union's president, Kim Il-sup, who is among those taking sanctuary in the church, says that Korea is being "financially and politically submissive by selling Daewoo Motor to General Motors. We're protesting against neo-liberalism, and we need global trade union solidarity support in this struggle. What we want is to go back to work." In the courtyard of the church, the IMF delegation joined a mass meeting of several hundred laid-off Daewoo workers, to give them messages of support and solidarity as well as promises to spread the word about their struggle.
On Friday, September 7, the IMF general secretary, Marcello Malentacchi, visited the Seoul prison where the president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Dan Byung-ho, is still being incarcerated since his most recent arrest for trade union activities, at the end of July. The KCTU president expressed his appreciation to Malentacchi for the many protest letters written by IMF affiliates on his behalf and said he was very moved to have such strong international support. He will be released on October 3, but may face more charges in the near future (see the associated link for an interview with Dan Byung-ho in the IMF's magazine Metal World).
A prison visit was also made in Inchon, by an international representative of the U.S. United Auto Workers' union, John Christensen, to two Daewoo union members who were arrested during the violent police crackdown on the union in April, which resulted in serious injury to a number of trade unionists who were participating in a rally near Daewoo's Pupyong plant. The IMF meeting participants were shown a video tape of this police charge on peaceful marchers, which left everyone in the group stunned by the display of irresponsible and violent behaviour of the police.
On a visit to the vast plant site of Hynix Semiconductor in Icheon, south of the capital, the Hynix trade union, which is a member of the FKMTU, described to the group the worsening working conditions and job insecurity that workers there are facing due to the economic crisis and downturn. The transnational company, formerly known as Hyundai Electronics and presently one of the world's largest semiconductor companies, is experiencing serious financial problems, with excessive loans and accumulated debts. Due to restructuring, approximately 6,845 workers of a total workforce of 22,000 have been made redundant at the Icheon plant in the last seven months, although they were found jobs in other operations of the company.
The FKMTU and its umbrella organisation, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, have requested intervention from the AFL-CIO in the U.S. in the form of pressure on the U.S. government, which is said to have attempted to influence decisions of credit banks there regarding Hynix. In a letter to the U.S. labour group, the unions said that "all should worry about the side effects in an intertwined global economy. The bankruptcy of such a company can have a domino effect on others and in a certain sense on the whole structure of the global economy." The Hynix union and the FKMTU are pushing for further education and training for workers made redundant.
The IMF delegation, representing 40 editors and press officers from 13 countries, then travelled to Inchon, west of Seoul, to the Daewoo Motor plant in Pupyong, the scene of militant trade union activity over the last years due to the growing number of layoffs there (out of a former workforce of 18,000 at the Pupyong plant, only 7,000 remain) and to the struggle of the Daewoo Motor Workers' Union and the KMWF against the proposed takeover by General Motors of the bankrupt carmaker.
Hired security guards and police prevented the journalists from entering the premises of the plant, but after a visit to the office of the 12,000-member DMWU (also surrounded by police and hired thugs), the delegation proceeded to the nearby Sangok Cathedral, where eight leaders of the union have taken refuge since February of this year, when police issued arrest warrants for them.
The union's president, Kim Il-sup, who is among those taking sanctuary in the church, says that Korea is being "financially and politically submissive by selling Daewoo Motor to General Motors. We're protesting against neo-liberalism, and we need global trade union solidarity support in this struggle. What we want is to go back to work." In the courtyard of the church, the IMF delegation joined a mass meeting of several hundred laid-off Daewoo workers, to give them messages of support and solidarity as well as promises to spread the word about their struggle.
On Friday, September 7, the IMF general secretary, Marcello Malentacchi, visited the Seoul prison where the president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Dan Byung-ho, is still being incarcerated since his most recent arrest for trade union activities, at the end of July. The KCTU president expressed his appreciation to Malentacchi for the many protest letters written by IMF affiliates on his behalf and said he was very moved to have such strong international support. He will be released on October 3, but may face more charges in the near future (see the associated link for an interview with Dan Byung-ho in the IMF's magazine Metal World).
A prison visit was also made in Inchon, by an international representative of the U.S. United Auto Workers' union, John Christensen, to two Daewoo union members who were arrested during the violent police crackdown on the union in April, which resulted in serious injury to a number of trade unionists who were participating in a rally near Daewoo's Pupyong plant. The IMF meeting participants were shown a video tape of this police charge on peaceful marchers, which left everyone in the group stunned by the display of irresponsible and violent behaviour of the police.