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19 December, 2008Arrest and imprisonment has not deterred Gab-Deuk Jung, president of the KMWU, from fighting for industry-wide collective bargaining and protecting the rights of workers to form unions.
Text: Kristyne Peter
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Under the stare of guards at the Young-Deng-po Correctional Justice facility on the outskirts of Seoul, prisoner Gab-Deuk Jung, President of the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), appears relaxed despite a potential three-year jail sentence hanging over his head.
Jung, who is facing criminal charges of "obstruction of business", was arrested on September 18 following a series of strikes demanding industry-wide collective bargaining and protesting U.S. beef imports.
The stakes are high, should a judge decide that the strikes Jung called are illegal, not only will the union lose its President to imprisonment but lawsuits filed against the union by some 90 companies, totalling in billions of wons for alleged damages, could bankrupt the KMWU, setting a dangerous precedent for future labour struggles.
"If I am found guilty [of organising illegal strikes] I fear the three rights [right to collectively bargain, right to strike and right to form a union] will be greatly compromised so I hope people outside of Korea will press for a positive outcome," said Jung while being interviewed in prison.
Jung points out that what is at issue is the employers' resistance to industry-wide collective bargaining. "By saying that the strikes are illegal they argue that industry-level bargaining has nothing to do with workers' wages and conditions, that it is political."
Born in 1958, the year of the dog, Jung has a reputation for meeting adversity with decisiveness and courage, a quality many Koreans remark is common among men who share his birth year.
Jung started out at Hyundai Motors in 1984 when independent trade unions such as the Hyundai Motor Workers' Union (HMWU), now the Hyundai Motors Branch, were forced to operate underground. He went on to serve as president of the HMWU twice, and later became the eighth president of the Hyundai Group Trade Union Federation, one of three precursor organizations of the Korean Metal Workers' Federation (now KMWU). In 2007, Jung was elected as KMWU President.
For most Korean trade unionists, serving jail time for participating in strike actions is part of the job. Jung is no exception. In the 1990s he was imprisoned twice for his involvement in massive strikes over restructuring; in 2002 he was jailed for demonstrating against the GM/Daewoo takeover; and imprisoned again, then released on bail, following last year's protests against a KOREA/US Free Trade Agreement. Charges for obstruction of business related to the KOREA/US FTA are still pending.
"The repression in Korea is getting more sophisticated," says Jung referring to employers' widely used provision in Korea's criminal code that allows companies to seek damages and incarcerate union leaders for obstruction of business. "The capital forces and the government are not abiding by the law. On paper, workers are entitled to form a union, but in realty there is no freedom to join a trade union. We have the legal foundation but we are not guaranteed the protection of these laws," Jung said adding, "Korea is the only country among the OECD members to arrest labour union leaders for obstruction of business."
Jung also noted that prison sentences for labour leaders have become more severe. "With the strike against the KOREA/US FTA, putting it into perspective, it was only a 14 hour strike, yet the prosecution asked for two to three years of imprisonment as the sentence. In contrast in the early 1990s, we had a goliath struggle - we had tens of thousands of workers demonstrating in the street, cars were set on fire, and a large number of people back then were arrested, and at that time they only asked for one-year sentences."
Jung argues that the government's neoliberal economic policy is the reason for the growing repression against unions in his country. "Only the super rich minority is benefiting at the cost of workers and ordinary people. So we cannot help but resist it and we will continue to struggle against it."
One month after the interview was conducted, Jung was released on bail. He is currently awaiting trial.