While many people were in high spirits, and many strikers encouraged by the growing signs of popular support, there were signs of strain among the industrial workers who had been on strike since December 27th, facing regular violent confrontations with the police and strike breakers. In a terrible sign of the rising frustration of some strikers, 33 year old auto worker Chong Chae-sok set fire to himself in the southern city of Ulsan. Chong was among some 20,000 Hyundai
February 1997 #285 17
* South Korea workers who clashed with teargas-spraying riot police on a January I1th march towards the Ulsan City Hall. Remaining firm
As they maximised their outreach efforts, KCTU leaders stressed that militants should expect that the Korean government would reject the workers' demands and suppress the movement by force. Sure enough, on January 7th, 217 unionists were summoned for questioning by the public prosecutors. Arrest warrants were later issued for 20 top leaders of the KCTU. Despite growing threats from the government, striker militancy remained strong, and public support continued to grow. "Our protest strikes will continue until President Kim Young-sam accepts our demands and apologises to 12 million workers," said KCTU President Kwon Young-gil, who took refuge in Myongdong Cathedral after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The first signs of hesitation in the ruling class began to appear. Senior government officials held a series of emergency meetings to find a solution to the two week old walkout. But the overall picture was of total state determination to defeat the strike. Public prosecutors backed by riot police occupied and searched the offices of the KCTU, the Korean Federation Automobile Workers Unions, the Korean Federation of Professional and Technicians Unions, and the Korean Council of Hospital Unions. Crackdown scenarios
That weekend the KCTU leadership held an urgent strategic meeting. It would be more difficult to bring workers into the streets for demonstrations and protest rallies on weekends, they argued. Most strikes in Korea are sit-down strikes where workers come to their workplace for union meetings, and go from there to mass street rallies and other activities.
Some workers returned to work on Monday to find the factory ground under police control, while the government repeated its threats to use massive force against remaining strikers. This generated two kinds of reaction; subdued resentment and defeatism, combined with angry, volatile outbursts.
Organisers realised that there would be no continuation of the well disciplined and peaceful rallies of the first three weeks of struggle, with 200,000 workers and their supporters weaving through the streets of the country's major cities every day.
The KCTU strategy team decided that the government could win if it used troops to break up all demonstrations and enforce a return to work in key sectors. It was unlikely that the police would raid the cathedral compound where top union leaders were camping. But it might be necessary for the confederation's leadership to go underground. This, or massive arrests at the Cathedral, would leave the union without stable leadership for a considerable time. In the climate of repression, many workers would return to work. And the Federation of Korean Trade Unions would quickly run down its own 18 International Viewpoint
КІЛ KIA
ATOR: half-hearted protests, once the pressure of the rank-and-file declined.
After their meeting, the KCTU leadership issued a public statement which, with hindsight, seems to reveal the ambiguity in the leadership's position, and the recognition that they would soon be asking members to justify something less than the full repeal of the unpopular legislation. "The KCTU leadership has been forged by more than ten year of struggle to build an independent representative trade union movement, and can be expected to undertake all possible effort to maintain the peaceful nature of the general Message from the KCTU Question: How can you support this genuine workers' strike in achieving victory? Answer: By protesting to the Korean government! • KCTU hopes that workers or any overseas supporters of our struggle organise protest rallies in front of Korean embassies in their countries. • We urge you to send protest letters to the Kim Young-sam government. Fax no: 822-855-1913
Encourage Korean workers in their struggle to act bravely and fight for their livelihood!
Most of the workers involved in the general strike action gave up their year-end annual bonus and salary for the cause of workers' rights. It is a very ditticult time for them and their families. We appeal to all concerned groups and supporters to make donations to the strikers of KCTU so that they may continue the strike. Every little will help! If you send a donation, please inform Yoon Youngmo at the International Department of KCTU. Send donations to the strikers to: Kim In Soog (KCTU). Korean (Foreign) Exchange Bank. Account number: 141-05-1003-7 Fax: 001-822-765-2011 E-mail: [email protected] strike, so as to induce the government to make a sincere commitment to reopen the process of discussion on genuine reform of the labour law." Endgame
While they felt they could not win in an escalation of the conflict, KCTU leaders still hoped that if they could maintain the general strike for another week, they would force the government to come to the discussion table, and agree to reopen the parliamentary debate. This would allow the re-amendment of the unpopular labour law by the parliamentary opposition, or even the constitutional court.
Korean radicals are still arguing about what actually happened on Wednesday 15th January, the first day of what unions hoped would be phase three of the general strike. Government threats to use troops to arrest strikers, and assure "essential services" frightened many strikers into returning to work. Shop stewards and local organisers seem to have been surprised by the shift in worker behaviour.
In a sure sign that they were willing to unleash massive repression, the government said that "Communist North Korea may take advantage of the situation to start a revolution in the South. In a country where "visiting" the North Korean press agency's Internet site can bring years of imprisonment, this was a clear threat to use national security legislation to smash the strike, and presumably roll back a few democratic rights in the process.
But the news that day was not uniform bad. After virtually ignoring the strike for a week, FKTU-affiliated unions representin 700,000 workers in 16 industries announced their own 39-hour strike.S Back to work
On Saturday 18th January, KCTU President Kwon Young-gil announced a dramatic change in tactics. The all-out strike was to be replaced with one-day walkouts every Wednesday, and mass rallies on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Kwon and the other six "wanted" union leaders would continue their sit-down protest in Seoul Cathedral. On February 18th, strikes would resume if the labour law was not repealed.
Union leaders justified this sudden change in tactics by a "new turn in the political situation." After 23 days of struggle, workers were tired, Kwon told journalists While public support for the strikers demands was expanding rapidly, to opposition parties, academic, religious circles, and ordinary citizens, the "front-line organisation of strikers" was "beginning to reveal the limits of persistence" common to long strikes of this intensity.
Other KCTU leaders said that the influences of "hard-liners" in the government camp seemed to be shrinking. "Even in the ring aly, the re of nely moderate a is. ruling party, the logic of revision of the law is cumstances, union leaders hoped their decision to suspend the general strike would "maintain pressure on the government, and at the same time block the possibility of public censure" of the strikers
Many strikers, especially in the most militant workplaces, and a large number of shop stewards were confused and bitter about this sudden reduction in strike activity, especially since the combination of radical strike tactics combined with innovative outreach to the non-striking population seemed to be winning support for labour demands among a majority of Koreans. Partial victory, or total defeat?
Top KCTU leaders were under extreme pressure to negotiate ever since the strike started. None wanted to share the responsibility for a severe crackdown which would reverse the democratic gains of recent years. They seem to have attached a lot of hope to signs of division within the ruling elite. The problem, as Kwon Young-gil admits, is that now that the strikers have suspended their action, "now it is the turn of the President and the ruling party to make their play."
President Kim Young-sam might make a few minor amendments, but there is no indication that he has any intention of reversing the new legislation. Indeed, his behaviour from the beginning suggests that he wanted a showdown with the unions. Employers would probably be willing to accept an amendment making it possible for the KCTU to organise alongside the discredited FKTU After all, this would be simply recognising the reality of trade union membership today. Alternatively, the government may demonstrate their "social concern" by improving South Korea's virtually non-existent unemployment benefit system. With official unemployment at 2.2%, this could be an acceptable price for soothing the sullen anger of so many workers. It would even make it easier for employers to implement the new legislation without provoking local disputes.
One thing is sure. Now the strikers are back at work, it will be much more difficult to call them out again if union leaders and the parliamentary opposition are unable to win concessions from the government. * Notes 1. 15% a year measured in Korean won, about 10% in real terms. 2. from a total of 160 KCTU-affiliated federations, with 200,000 members. 3. Health unions made special arrangements to staff all intensive care, emergency, and urgent surgery units, so as to minimise inconvenience and avoid any crisis in medical delivery. This was the system they had followed in South Korea's first ever health service strike, earlier in 1996. They understood from that experience that such emergency cover arrangements alleviate the public's concern and anxiety about the possible chaos that a hospital strike could provoke. The size and popularity of the current general strike has almost certainly lifted any remaining taboos attached to industrial action by health workers. 4. Including chemical, metal and auto workers, banking staff and taxi drivers About 50,000 unionised banking personnel participated in their first nation-wide strike since the modern banking system was introduced to Korea about 100 years ago. 5. The Economist, 18 January 1997. For more information Korean General Strike page http://kpd.sing-kr.org/strike/index-e.html
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions http://kpd.sing-kr.org/kctu/index.html
Korean Central News Agency (North
Korea's one and only news agency)
http://www.kcna.co.jp/
Sri Lanka *
War in the north • repression in the south