South Korea: General Strike to smash employer offensive!
70,000 workers responded to the strike call by militant union federation the KCTU on 31 May. The strike was called over three main demands:
- Reduce the working week from 44 to 40 hours, bringing in a five day week
- Stop the sell off of the Daewoo motor company to a foreign buyer
- Legal protection for workers in casualised jobs.
The strike was strongest among metal workers and nurses. About 18 hospitals were affected together with large manufacturing plants like LG Chemical and Kumho Tyre.
However KCTU members at the big four car manufacturers have so far failed to join the strike. Likewise a number of smaller unions held back from the strike action as employers moved to "salami" the strike into different sectoral grievances. The pilots' union, for example, which has threatened an all out strike unless it was legalised, was granted a certificate of legality just hours before the general strike began. Subway workers in Seoul had already signed a no-strike deal in return for concessions. And the government also announced it would open negotiations on the working week as the strike was due to begin.
However, it is vital that the shipyard, heavy industry and auto workers who form the core of the KCTU's industrial strength are brought into the struggle now.
