ISSN 0951-8657. Published by Aurora Ltd. PO Box 1109, London N4 2UU. All rights reserved. Printed by Eastway Offset (TU all depts) B Skanthakumar ROARS from the belly of the tiger in recent months haye inspired workers and activists worldwide. South Koreans will resume their general strike on February 18 unless the government relents on its vicious anti-union laws.
British workers have been told for years now that working smarter', non-unionised workplaces, flexibility and so on are the key to economic growth and job security, and that they have to learn ' crom the East Asian example to compete in the new global econmouch Korea's Kim Young Sam cites "globalisation" (seg/hwa) as justification for his labour law reforms. Brain's industnai rcadons legislation is his model. Margaret Thatcher's confrontation with or ganised labour is his inspiration.
The South Korean National As. sembly met in secret session at bam on December 26 to hastily rubber stamp the passage of two laws - the Labour Law reforms and a draconian National Security Act. Opposition members of the Assembly (142 out of 299, equalling 47 per cent) were not invited.
The National Security Act gives the state more authority and casier grounds to soy on and imprison dissident and radical social moveBusiness groups, particularly the Korean Employers Federation (KEF, had pressed the regime to deregulate the labour market by making it easier to hire and fire workers, sanctioning the usc of scab labour during disputes, and casualiSouth Korean workers have the longest hours and the higlest rate of industrial accidents in the world. Workers do an average of 48.7 hours a week, usually with up to another ten hours overtime The law allows only one union per workplace. The legally recog nised Nochong, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) is pro-government and is seen as a management puppet. Many compahave collaborated with the FKTU to form an enterprise union to prevent the KCTU doing so.
The illegal Minjunochong, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), with 500,000 members, campaigned for the overtly pro-employer reforms to be bankc by rcioris allowing union pluralism in the workplace and union rights for teachers and civil servants.
I he government afreco to union pluralism but only three years from now. Anti-labour provisions come into force immediately. The gorernment's so-called concession might never be implemented.
Prime Minister Yi Su-Song insisted "the new labour laws are not aimed at lowering wages, worsening working conditions or helping to restore the economy by permitting businesses to lay off employees ch masse. They are laws legislated out of sincere agony to promote the in terests of all - businesses, workers and the entire people".
No one believes him. Korean workers know that any agony will be theirs, because exports have to be priced 'competitively in the world market.
In response to the new law the KCTU called an immediate general strike, the first since 1948, demand. ing its immediate repeal.
Workers in car factories and shipyards took the lead, shutting down the chaebols or conglomerates which dominate the economy. Hyundai estimates its losses in production from these strikes at US$ 473 million. Health workers, transrudents joined in demonstrations and rallies. Over 200,000 workers were on strike and tens of thousands more took unofficial action.
Meanwhile, the FKTU with its official membership of 1.2 million surprised everyone by declaring that it too would go on strike, though at that stage sparatcly from the KCTU. There was pressure from the base to join in the action so they did so to maintain credibility. However, the FKTU Ieadership soon back-tracked and called for walkouts instead of indefinite strike action.
The first phase of strikes lasted until New Year's Eve.
Disruption
The KCTU needed to cause maximum disruption to the chaebols and the government, while maintaining and extending alliances with the people who had taken to the streets in solidarity. It knew it could not prolong a general strike without losing even core supportcult. the strikers. supestco taal join the KCTU. union president Kwon Yong-Gil. The leaders had already songht on welfare!
sanctuary in the grounds of the Roman Catholic Myongdong CatheKROWINK that their headquarters would be raided and they would be imprisoned if found.
The cathedral itself became a focal point for press conferences, ral. lies and demonstrations solidarity with those besieged in. side.
The strike movement entered a third phase on January 15. The FKTU President visited the KCTU leaders at the Cathedral and issued a joint statement confirming that this was a common struggle in which they shared identical demands. Reing in the strike, members of the KCTU and over 370,000 members of the FKTU according to Labour Ministry figures.
On January 17, the general strike was suspended. Instead, the leadership called one day walkouts every Wednesday, combined with mass rallies and demonstrations every Wednesday and Saturday. The walkouts were called off on January 28, when the KCTU Ieadership said it was concentrating on preparing for a national general strike.
The KCTU was responding to the fact that union members in heavy industry were returning to work partly in response to pleas from the manasement. Many soc the struggle as one against an unjust law rather than against the charbolstate.
Capitalism's gravedigger isn't dead as some argue. It has only to discover its historic role.