By Eva Cheng
South Korean workers are planning to launch a second and bigger round of general strikes on June 10, despite the government's declaration that the May 27-28 strike by 120,000 workers was illegal and its threat on May 29 to charge 143 strike leaders. Bosses have also threatened to sue workers for striking.
The 143 included most of the national leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), which led the strike, as well as the leaders of 125 member unions. The charge is "interference with business".
Workers were protesting against mass dismissals since the government began implementing the austerity that followed the December US$57 billion bailout led by the International Monetary Fund.
The workers were also demanding an end to unfair labour practices; trade union participation in the economic restructuring process; a shorter work week; reduced military spending; and public accountability of corporate practices.
Government officials said workers can strike on enterprise issues, but not government policies.
"The government and big business — supported by media which have become the mouthpiece of the rich — have exploited the good will of workers and ordinary people by forcing them to shoulder the entire burden of the crisis ... They have even used the crisis as a threat to gag just grievances and demands", said the strikers' manifesto.
The May 27-28 strike was launched two hours after 19-hour-long negotiations with the government failed. Some 92,000 workers from the Korean Metal Workers Federation took part, as did 23,000 from the Korean Federation of Public and Social Services Workers Unions, 5000 from the Regional Health Insurance Cooperatives Employees Union and 3000 from the Korean Federation of Chemical Workers Union.
On May 27, 60,000 strikers converged in 15 major industrial centres for mass meetings and rallies. The biggest rally, of 30,000, took place in Ulsan and included many workers from the Hyundai Motors Workers Union. Similar mass rallies and marches also took place the next day.
Unions that couldn't join the strike, namely telecom workers, held educational sessions or stop-work meetings and joined the mass rallies at night.
More unions managed to meet only after the strike started, but resolved to pledge their support. This included the International Metalworkers Federation. The KCTU expected all of its 600,000 members would join the June 10 general strike.
Amnesty International issued a statement on May 27 to support the strikers, as did 200 Protestant ministers the next day.
More mass actions are scheduled for May 30 and June 3. The KCTU leaders have established its temporary headquarters in camps outside the Myongdong Cathedral in Seoul, as they did during the 1996-1997 general strikes.
KCTU members held a funeral on May 29 for Shin Ghil-su, formerly president of a local union, who killed himself on May 27 under the weight of crushing debts incurred to cover months of unpaid wages. While the funeral was going on, a worker at Kia Motors set himself on fire at work after suffering financial difficulties because of prolonged unpaid wages. He survived the suicide attempt.