And thus the long list of imprisoned KMWF unionists increased by one today as the South Korean government continued its punitive actions against workers who express their right to free speech and collective action. Although unions and workers' movements are a cornerstone of any democracy, the government has ignored workers' voice, instead turning to arrests and issuance of arrest warrants to silence worker activists and prop up the Kim Dae Jung government's sham of "social consensus" and supposed respect for "human rights" before the international community. In reality, heavy-handed repression has been used to drive key union leaders underground or keep them at various stages of the criminal justice system and away from their organizations and work.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, many of the workers who are wanted, detained, or incarcerated by the government are core leaders in the workers' movement. The list includes key figures such as KCTU General Secretary KOH, Young-joo, Korea Telecom Workers Union President KIM, Ho-sun and the many key links within the KMWF organization. The "crimes" go back to participation and struggle in the 1998 May Day rally and two general strikes, with related charges of obstruction of business, traffic and so on.
Last July 14th, at 11:00 at night, about 400 policemen had surrounded the building in which the KMWF is located. Despite two hours of ardent effort to capture President Dan, they were unable to apprehend him that night. With similar mobilization of brute police force, KCTU General Secretary KOH, Young-joo and KCTU Organizing Department Director PARK, Pyo-gun were also arrested. To date, over 120 KCTU union activists, including over 80 KMWF union activists, remain in the dark and cramped jail cells of South Korea, unjustly detained for exercising basic workers' rights.
Taken with today's arrest of KMWF President DAN, Byung-ho, the Kim Dae Jung government signals what it actually intends by the term "new industrial relations." It has meant retaliatory repression and arrest of labor leaders. It has meant pre-emptively striking out against workers as they prepare to launch a struggle against mass retrenchment in unity with people's groups. And it signals to employers that "redundancy dismissal" can be freely used against workers just so long as the employers claim to be undergoing restructuring while the government's intentional intervention paralyzes and suppresses resistance. The Kim Dae Jung government's new era of industrial relations has meant that peaceful sit-in protests by Mando Machinery Workers Union and Anam Workers Union were settled through bloody and violent police raids to clear out the strikers. Now that the government has arrested and detained the elected president of KMWF, it remains to be seen how the government can lay claim to engaging in constructive industrial relations in the face of such crude and heavy-handed suppression.
Meanwhile, employers have been exploiting the milieu of economic crisis to have a free for all in unfair/illegal employer practices (unfair dismissal, nonpayment/delayed payment of wages, no overtime pay, etc etc). If the government devoted even a quarter of the energy it now expends in repressing union activists in curbing the illegal employer actions, perhaps more employers would be encouraged to abide by the labor standards act. But the Kim Dae Jung government, instead of supporting the poor, has supported business and cracked down on workers.
Thus, the workers are preparing a united struggle for November. All of the individual enterprise unions engaging in separate struggles will marshal their forces, and reach out to farmers, the urban poor, the unemployed, and students in solidarity to wage a struggle against the Kim Dae Jung government.
The Korean Metal Workers' Federation has issued a statement on October 19th with the following demands to the South Korean government:
Release KMWF President Dan, Byung-ho Now!
Release All Imprisoned Workers Now!
Cancel the Arrest Warrants Issued Because of Workers' Struggle Now!
Ensure Job Security and Abide by the Government-Labor Agreement Now!
Arrest the Employers Committing Unfair/Illegal Employer Actions Now!
Bring into Effect Measures for Genuine Social Reform NOW!
As the South Korean police continue their manhunts against union activists and other workers are kept in prison, the KMWF renews the call for the government to release imprisoned workers, and joins together with other social forces in the hopes of exposing the injustice and bringing about genuine social change.
5:30 p.m., KMWF Urgent Struggle Update, 10/19/98