SOUTH KOREA: Workers mobilise against repression
SEOUL — On July 20, more than 20,000 people rallied in 14 cities in a national day of action organised by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). It was in response to two recent police attacks on striking workers.
In a dawn raid on June 29, 3000 cops in full riot gear savagely beat 1000 members of the Lotte Hotel Union who had occupied the hotel's 36th floor. Those beaten included a pregnant worker who has since suffered a miscarriage. Many of the cops, who included members of the anti-terrorist unit, had been treated by management to a long drinking session from the hotel's liquor stock prior to the raid. The Lotte Hotel is part of the Lotte conglomerate, one of the top 10 in South Korea.
The majority of the Lotte unionists are women casual workers who daily suffer serious sexual harassment from male managers, including rape and other forms of sexual violence. The daily torment and humiliation they have suffered has made the Lotte workers some of the most combative and determined.
The workers' demands were for casual staff to be made permanent, for an end to sexual harassment, and for the workers to be allowed to keep their tips. Male, female, casual and permanent unionists alike united strongly around these demands.
At dawn on July 1, 3000 cops attacked striking workers occupying the Public Health Insurance Office, the government department that manages the national medical insurance scheme.
The insurance workers were protesting the failure of the government to meet its 50% contribution to the scheme, allowing it to fall into deficit at the expense of workers' medical treatment. Another demand was for the scheme to be expanded to cover specialist treatment.
The excuse for these vicious raids was that the strikes had become illegal following "arbitration" by the government. The arbitration favoured the employers and the workers resolved to continue their strikes and occupations.
The real reason for President Kim Dae-Jung regime's repressive actions was its need to impress the West in the lead up to the second wave of IMF-instigated economic restructuring.
Sensing weakness in the workers' movement, Kim opted for the stick this time around. However, weakness at the leadership level has not meant a weakening of militancy in the ranks.
The mood at the Seoul rally, where over 6000 gathered, was highly charged. After rallying at Jong-Yoh Park, in the city centre, the crowd marched to Myongdong Cathedral via the Lotte Hotel. At the hotel, the anger toward the cops spilled over and the police lines were charged twice. Seventy cops from the contingent that beat the Lotte workers appeared and baton-charged the protesters.
Unlike the recent May Day and May 31-June 4 general strike rallies, the KCTU leaders did not attempt to quell the anger. Among the KCTU's lower-level officials and its ranks, there are calls for the leadership to wage a counter-offensive against the regime. The repression has strengthened the militant wing of the KCTU.
More days of action have been called for July 25 and 28.
BY IGGY KIM