>From: "Ulhas Joglekar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sunday 30 April 2000 > >Thousands march ahead of May Day in Seoul >SEOUL, South Korea: About 15,000 workers marched through downtown Seoul on >Saturday ahead of May Day, demanding a shorter work week and opposing the >sale of auto firms to foreign investors. >"Five-day work week," they chanted, picking up the slogan blared from >loudspeakers mounted on vans. "Let's crush foreign sales and protect our >right to survival." >The protest turned violent when about 200 workers and students, hurling >rocks and wielding sticks, clashed briefly with riot police. Witnesses said >at least three protesters were injured, one who was bleeding from the head >was taken to a hospital. >Several protesters were taken away by police in sporadic clashes that >followed, witnesses said. >Organizers said similar but small-scale May Day protests were held in about >a dozen other cities. Police said those protests in the countryside ended >peacefully. >The protesters in Seoul, who included some relatives of workers and some >college students, marched into the streets after a two-hour rally in front >of the railway station downtown. >Led by a traditional Korean farmers' band, the workers paraded 4 kilometers >(2.5 miles) along busy streets, carrying hundreds of red, yellow and blue >placards. Traffic was backed up for miles (kilometers). >Police stood a few meters (yards) apart along the center line of the >eight-lane boulevards and tried to keep the march orderly. Workers >distributed leaflets appealing for support but few pedestrians responded. >The protests were largely peaceful and there were no reports of clashes or >arrests. >The rally and march were organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade >Unions, a militant umbrella labor group which claims a membership of >500,000, many of them in the car and shipbuilding industries. >Another major labor group, the conservative Federation of Korean Trade >Unions, planned separate May Day rallies and marches in Seoul and elsewhere >on Monday. >Confederation officials said Saturday's protest was part of their plan to >organize a nationwide strike in late May. They vowed to organize more >protests in the coming weeks. >Workers demanded that their work week be cut from 44 hours to 40 hours, >without a cut in pay. They claimed that South Korea has the longest work >week of all industrialized countries. >They denounced plans to sell ailing Daewoo Motor Co. to a foreign investor. >General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor of the United States are reportedly the >front-runners in international bidding. A successful bidder will be chosen >by September. >Last week, French carmaker Renault SA took over another ailing South Korean >auto firm, Samsung Motors Inc., for $562 million, becoming the first foreign >car producer and operator in South Korea. >"No more leak of national wealth," protesters shouted, referring to the >Samsung-Renault deal, which they consider a giveaway. South Korean workers >fear mass layoffs under foreign ownership. >As the one-hour march reached a commercial district in the city center lined >with Burger King, KFC and several other American fast food restaurants, some >Daewoo workers shouted "Down with U.S." (AP) >For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service >|Disclaimer| >For comments and feedback send Email >� Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 2000. > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
