Korean Confederation of Trade Unions 5th Fl. Daeyoung Bld., 139 Youngdeungpo-2-ga, Youngdeungpo-ku, Seoul 150-032 Korea Tel.: +82-2-636-0165 Fax: +82-2-635-1134 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] homepage: http://kctu.org KCTU News April 30, 1999 Metal Workers Set to Lead the Second Wave KCTU-Wide General Campaign KMWF Gears Up for May 12 General Strike On April 29, 1999, Moon Seung-hyun, the president of the Korean Metal Workers Federation, the largest KCTU affiliate, held a press conference to announce the plans of the metal workers campaign. The KMWF is scheduled to launch a general strike on May 12 if there is no progress in negotiation with employers groups until that time. The KMWF's campaign - as a part of the broader KCTU-wide general campaign -- has been built on a systematic effort to concentrate and consolidate a common set of demands and a new structure and process of negotiation for collective bargaining agreement. Struggle to Build Industry Level Bargaining The KMWF has been organising its member local unions to transfer the mandate of negotiation for collective bargaining agreement to the federation. The local unions can delegate the Federation the right to negotiate through a decision of the highest decision making body within the organisation. The effort to concentrate negotiation to the Federation derives from a plan to consolidate coordination of action and negotiations to maximise the organisational strength in the face of massive offensive by the employers and the government. The 'upward mandatement' is also aimed at building a "habit" of industry-level centralised bargaining. The Federation, endowed with legal mandate to negotiate on behalf of member local unions, can begin to call on the group of employers to negotiate as a group. This is a crucial step in building industrial union structures and industrial bargaining structures. In April 29 press conference, KMWF president Moon Seung-hyun revealed that a total of 105 individual local unions have completed the legally required procedure to mandate the Federation to negotiate on their behalf. The "mandatement" was combined with an effort to produce a common set of demands. The KMWF set forward a seven-point demand to the employers. One of the two main foci of the KMWF demands is working hour reduction to 40 hour week as a corner stone for employment security. The other focus is a consolidated trade union participation - co-determination - in the process of corporate restructuring. Doing It Legally - will they say it's illegal The KMWF has called on the employers to begin a collective bargaining on a number of times only to be met with an absolute silence. The continuing intransigence of the employers have prompted the KMWF to file for mediation by the Labour Relations Committee. The Korean labour law stipulates the mediation by Labour Relations Committee mandatory for any industrial dispute. It does not, however, require the parties in an industrial dispute to accept the result of the mediation. Unions usually can take strike action after 10 days from the date of filing an application for mediation. This is, in fact, a mandatory 'cooling-off' period. The 116 KMWF unions which have filed for the mandatory mediation will hold strike ballot on May 3 after participation in the KCTU- wide May Day rally. The KMWF is scheduled to strike - based on the results of the strike ballot - if the employers groups do not come forward with any effort to arrive at an acceptable agreement on its demands. So far the employers groups in the metal industry - like all employers in Korea at the moment who feel that the economic crisis, the IMF policy regime, and the Kim Dae Jung government's draconian policies have given them a power to take workers and people hostage -- have been ideologically opposed to any idea of a collective bargaining as an industry and has rejected all the proposals for working hour reduction and consultative process of corporate restructuring. They May Still Say It's Illegal The KMWF's general strike, conducted in "strict compliance" with the labour law is, nevertheless, likely to be attacked as illegal. This stems from the fact that the labour law defines industrial dispute as that which arises between a union and AN employer over some issues which the employer has capacity to deal with. Given this, a strike can only be legally undertaken by a union. Furthermore, the government could interpret the law in such a way to say that there is no valid negotiation partner since the individual employers have not come together as a group in response to the KMWF's call to hold a collective bargaining. Since no partner to a dispute has become constituted, the dispute can be said not to exist, and the KMWF's strike action - which must arise out of a process of a dispute with an identifiable party - is aimed against some non-existing partner in non- existing dispute. Therefore, its strike action is illegal. A simple sleight of hand by employers to come together as a group can make the KMWF's effort to initiate a collective bargaining process at a supra-enterprise level illegal. This kind of interpretation and action, however, can create a fundamental problem concerning the right to bargain collectively enshrined in international labour standards. Furthermore, it can come into contradiction with the legally allowed option for a union to mandate a higher organisation - in this case KMWF - to negotiate on its behalf. Nevertheless... The May 12 general strike by the KMWF will be joined by hospital workers and some segments of the white-collar workers as a part of the second wave of the KCTU-wide general campaign. Below is a translation of the KMWF's announcement of its plans made public at the April 29 press conference. KMWF Prepares for May Concerted Campaign to Attain 40 Hour Working Week and Prevent Projected Layoffs 116 unions to lodge written application for mediation today KMWF unions will, after the strike ballot on May 3, go on strike on May 12 1. The KMWF member unions, today, will lodge written application for mediation to the Central Labor Committee and relevant Regional Labor Committee as required by the law prior to taking industrial action. 105 unions entrusted the KMWF with the mandate to bargain on their behalf in compliance with the law. The KMWF, on the basis of the transfer of the mandate, called on the relevant employers to begin a collective bargaining process. However, on April 6, the designated date, the employers of the relevant enterprises failed to come to the Korean Employers Federation conference room designated for the first session. The KMWF reiterated its call, and proposed new dates for the meeting. The employers' representatives, however, failed to make their appearance on both occasions, April 21 and 28. The behavior of the employers are in violation for the labor law which stipulate that employers cannot refuse negotiations for collective bargaining without reasonable cause. The KMWF's effort to begin a new collective bargaining process - based on transfer of mandate from the enterprise unions - is based on the recognition that enterprise level bargaining is incapable of responding to and dealing with the issues and concerns of employment security, unemployment, and positive industrial relations in the context of the economic crisis. The continuing refusal of the employers to take part in negotiation can only be seen as their lack of willingness to face up to the challenge of building working industrial relations in this difficult times. The government is also guilty of refusing dialogue with workers' legitimate concern over social and economic issues. It continues to reject the KCTU's call for dialog, as can be seen by the recent handling of the subway workers' strike. The government is bent on ignoring the workers' call for working hour reduction as the central means to enhance job security, minimize unemployment, and create new jobs. Therefore, today, we again demand the government and employers to respond immediately to our call for negotiation over the seven demands we have set forward. If they continue to ignore our call, the KMWF has no choice but to take to strike in compliance with the legal procedures. 2. The recent announcements by the Daewoo and the Hyundai groups and the government plan to "privatize" the Hankuk Heavy Industry, and the plan to "restructure" the train locomotive and carriage manufacturers are typical of employers' and government's unilateral action without any consultation or process of negotiation with unions which enrage the workers: 1. The "owners" of Daewoo and Hyundai must withdraw the announced sales and restructuring plans which have been adopted unilaterally without any consultation with the workers who have been working at these companies for all their lives. 2. The owner-managers of these companies must assume the full responsibility for the bad management which has led to insolvency or difficulty. 3. The owner-managers of these companies must, first, initiate a plan to make them "public" companies, combining public shareholdership, employee shareholdership, with due respect given to workers who have given their lives in building up these companies, before any plan to sell them to foreign concerns. 4. The recent announcements fail short of any kind of chaebol reform which address the issues of structure of mismanagement, the structure which allow feudal control by owners, the structure and responsibility of corruption; nor do they address the issues of employment security, reduction of working hours, or the participation of trade unions in the process of decision making concerning restructuring. The main focus of restructuring demanded by the economic crisis is to dismantle the chaebol structure, which is responsible for all the irregularities in management and the operational difficulties all their affiliate companies face. Another concern which must form the corner stone of any restructuring is employment security aimed at minimising the social impact that arise from massive loss of jobs. This calls for a systematic effort to reduce working hours to share work and to avoid or minimize retrenchment. This is the only way to contain unemployment - which the Korean society and economy is unable to cope with due to the absence of any meaningful social safety net - to pave the way for economic recovery, and to protect the livelihood of workers and ordinary people. The KMWF will, therefore, exert all its energy and capacity in solidarity with all sectors of labor to prevent the irresponsible restructuring plan put forward by the very people who are the key targets of any genuine reform, to realise our demands. 3. The subway workers' strike provided a succinct picture of the current situation. Subway workers kept up their strike action for eight days despite the vicious repression by the government and sweeping vilification by the media. The strike was a demonstration of the strength and intensity of workers anger against the current unilateral "restructuring" undertaken by the government and the chaebol conglomerates. They expressed the same feeling of dismay, dissatisfaction, exclusion, anger, and the will to resist held by all workers. The government must realize that the violent repression of the valid and legitimate concerns and demands of workers cannot silence them. But, that it will only fuel the anger and resistance. The government may glee in joy and congratulate itself for beating back the subway workers. And it may rejoice in confidence to push harder and harsher in pursuing its policies. But the government must heed the warning. The government cannot - despite all its repression - eliminate the legitimate demands and just anger of workers. The government - as proven by series of exposes about corruption and ill-doings and the internal immobilism and bureaucratic resistance - is coming undone in all its sides. And its easy recourse to repression in response to workers legitimate demands and actions will only hasten the process. It has failed miserably to severe ties with and the practice of those who gave rise to the economic crisis and the bankruptcy, and allowed the IMF to dictate the future of our economy, society, and politics. We shall not allow the government to repress workers by attacking that our action is illegal. The repression of just actions of workers by the government is a clear violation of the constitutionally and internationally recognized right of workers. Therefore, we will continue to resist and fight the government repression, through exercise of our legitimate rights, including a legal challenge against the government's behavior. 4. We demand the government and employers to respond to our seven demands and begin negotiations in good faith. Their continued intransigence will force us to step up our action. If there is no response nor any progress in negotiations, the completion of the mediation period following the formal application, will set in motion our general strike scheduled for May 12 with more than 10,000 members converging on Seoul for a protest rally. The government and employers must heed our warning that only their willingness and demonstration of good faith in negotiation can avert the looming confrontation. The KMWF will continue to step up the campaign to attain our legitimate rights and employment security. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Korean Confederation of Trade Unions] http://kctu.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- powered by [Korean Progressive Network 'Jinbonet'] http://www.jinbo.net ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
