Archive:
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
Netscape Users: Click here to subscribe to the Korean Labour News Channel
Internet Explorer Users: Click here to subscribe to the Korean Labour News Channel.
|
KCTU stages sit-in in Myongdong Cathedral
News direct from the labour movement in Korea:
Interview with candidates for KCTU leadership
FKTU, KCTU to merge?
Class Struggle in Korea: The Viewpoint of the Fourth International
ILO Praises "Progress" on Labour Front
FKTU speaks out against wage cuts
News direct from the labour movement in Korea:
- International Action Day - coming soon
- Brutality of Inchon Detention House
- Korean Metal Workers Federation demands centralized collective bargaining with employers
- Suspension of indictment on union activists
- 2 million unemployed
- American Chamber of Commerce in Korea ignores ILO standards
- 100,000 public sector workers to join KCTU
- May Day strike proposed
Urgent Appeal!
Korean Government tries to quash attempt to organize unemployed!
- Labor Ministry Declares Unions for Unemployed People Illegal Korea Herald 23.3.98
The Labor Ministry said yesterday that the clause in the recently revised labor law which had allowed the unemployed to form unions had been taken out of the final revision, therefore making unions for the unemployed illegal. The announcement comes as a betrayal to labor unions whose leaders met with the government and management in February to revise the then existing labor law. The deletion of the clause, which was made due to the opposition of a majority of legislators on the National Assembly's Environmental and Labor Committee, is expected to prompt a strong response from the labor community which has been pushing for trade unions for the jobless.
More on efforts by KCTU to organize unemployed
Korean Metal Workers Federation President Freed
Unemployment to reach 2,000,000
- Unemployment to Rise to 2 Mil.: Morgan Stanley Korea Times 18.3.98
"It the chaebol reform is successful, a further sharp rise in unemployment to 2 million cannot be ruled out," Morgan Stanley said in a report released by its Hong Kong headquarters. It said, "By then, public support for the labor unions may be much broader than it is now," implying that labor disputes will become more intense.
Unions to organize unemployed
Unionists launch hunger strike
Unemployment crisis deepens
Only 74 political prisoners freed; over 400 remain behind
Mass amnesty for 5,527,827 people
Despite appeals from human rights groups in Korea and abroad:
Former Political Prisoner Kim Dae Jung:
National Security Law Will Stay
Unemployment crisis deepens
- 76% of jobless receive no benefits
- Estimates revised upwards of expected number of unemployed
- 10,000 lose their jobs every day
Crisis in the KCTU
Special Report from Seoul
- PICIS Newsletter No. 8 9 March 1998 (Also available at Labournet.)
"This reveals a crisis within the KCTU, which is the result of a series of processes, announcement of tripartite agreement on Feb 6, rejection to the agreement and decision of general strike on Feb 9, and the cancellation of the strike on Feb 12."
Kim Dae Jung To Grant Mass Amnesty
South Korea's Largest Industrial Union Recognized
- Largest Industrial Union Launched Korea Herald 9.3.98
The nation's largest industrial labor union, claiming a membership of 190,000 mostly in auto and shipbuilding companies, was sanctioned by the government yesterday. The union, formed by 181 individual unions under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), was approved by the Labor Ministry. Accounting for 34 percent of the KCTU's membership of 549,000, the union gathers most of its members from auto makers and shipbuilders nationwide.
Illegal labour practices increase;
Textile workers protest in Seoul and Kwachon
Union-Buster Named Top Official in New Government
KCTU to be legalized
Meet Lee Ki-ho -- South Korea's New Labour Minister
- Only member of Kim Young Sam's cabinet to remain
- Played key role in tripartite negotiations
- KCTU and FKTU reportedly backed his candidacy
Latest update direct from Seoul!
Kim Dae Jung Promises Prisoner Amnesty Soon - But Who Will Be Included?
|