|
|
Change Your Life! |
Tens of thousands of Korean workers go on four-day strike |
|
News |
|
|
June 1, 2000
"We want a five-day work week," 10,000 protesters chanted as they marched 3 kilometers (2 miles) occupying four lanes of the eight-lane main boulevard in central Seoul.
Many protesters carried red and white placards or distributed leaflets appealing for support. Traffic backed up during the two-hour march. Several frustrated drivers and pedestrians got into brief scuffles with protesters.
Police with plastic shields walked alongside the protesters to guard against violence. No serious clashes were reported. Some 70,000 workers at 140 work sites went on a four-day strike on Wednesday, said the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a militant umbrella group.
But the Labor Ministry said that only 32,000 members at 90 work places joined the strike. The labor confederation, which claims a membership of 500,000, called the strike demanding that the work week be cut from 44 hours to 40 hours, without a cut in pay.
It threatened to extend the strike unless the government accepts its demand by Sunday. "We can't trust the government's continuing lip service. We need to show our strength," said Sohn Nak-koo, a union spokesman.
The government earlier said it would introduce a bill in Parliament this year to shorten the work week, but with a precondition that the government, businesses and labor groups reach an agreement on the issue first.
The confederation rejected the government move, which it said lacked details to carry out its promise. The impact of the strike was limited after two major member unions - Hyundai Motor Co. and Hyundai Heavy Industries - decided not to join the protest.
The two with a combined 57,000 workers are key players in the militant labor group. Despite the strike, most major hospitals in Seoul and elsewhere stayed open, manned by essential staffs.
Pilots at Korean Air, the country's largest airline, also dropped their plan to strike on Wednesday, after the government recognized their union. Korean Air's 1,300 Korean pilots had threatened to ground most of the airline's 110 planes unless the government recognized their union, which had been unauthorized.
Korean Air pilots formed a labor union in mid-1999 but the government refused to authorize it, citing legal restrictions. A major hurdle that blocked the pilots' union was a labor law banning a work site from having a second union until 2002. Korean Air already has a labor union for all employees except pilots.
In an overnight meeting, the government decided to allow Korean Air pilots to form a separate union because they had been excluded from the airline's existing union.
|