[asia-apec 731] Korean Unionists in Prison Since May Day

[GABRIELA]

>From: BAYAN <bayan at iname.com>
>From: "KCTU Int. Sol." <inter at kctu.org>
>Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 14:32:39 +0900
>Sender: Owner-Asia-HR-Alert at jca.ax.apc.org
>
>
>Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
>KCTU Alert                                                       
>September 19, 1998
>
>                            107 Trade Unionists Imprisoned
>                                  125 Wanted for Arrest
>
>                          by the Korean Government Led by
>             President Kim Dae Jung, a Nobel Peace Prize Aspirant
>      and the 'Most Famous Human Rights Violation Victim in Korea'
>
>
>On September 11, two leaders of the KCTU -- Mr. Yoo Duk-sang (KCTU First
>Vice-President) and Mr. Dan Byung-ho (KCTU Vice-President and President of
>Korean Metal Workers Federation) -- met with Mr. Sane, the General Secretary
>of the Amnesty International.
>
>The meeting took place in one of the tents at the Myongdong Catholic
>Cathedral because the two KCTU leaders were not able to leave the tents set
>up at the Cathedral ground due to the police staking out nearby with
>warrants for their arrest. The two leaders, who have been at the tents for
>60 days, are just two of the 125 KCTU leaders and members wanted for arrest
>by the Korean government.
>
>107 unionists in Prison, and likely to increase even further
>
>At the meeting with the General Secretary of the Amnesty International, Mr.
>Yoo explained that 107 KCTU leaders and members have been arrested and are
>currently in prison as of September 9, 1998.
>
>The arrests, which have taken place since this year's May Day, makes the
>current Kim Dae Jung government the most prolific in putting away trade
>unionists in jail. His government surpasses the former President Kim Young
>Sam government's record of 46 arrests (or wanted for arrest) set in the
>first year of his term. The record is expected to reach even greater heights
>in the remaining months of President Kim Dae Jung's first year in office.
>The 125 KCTU unionists wanted for arrest -- now in hiding -- could easily
>fill the prisons recently vacated by the Liberation Day amnesty.
>
>Shame, Shame, Shame -- Embarrassment for Nobel Peace Prize Aspirant
>
>The 107 trade unionists in prison is modest, however, when compared with the
>arrests under the National Security Law by the Kim Dae Jung government. In
>the first 100 days in office, President Kim Dae Jung oversaw his government
>arrest a total of 245 people under the infamous National Security Law. These
>arrests brings the total number of new arrests by the new President to 426
>(including the trade unionists).
>
>The two imprisonment figures documented by the KCTU and the Mingahyup (a
>human rights organisation set up by the families of human rights violation
>victims) is sufficient to disillusion any one who had hoped for improvements
>in human rights situation under the new government led by a person described
>by the Amnesty International as "the most famous human rights violation
>victim in Korea". The recent findings also is likely to embarrass any
>aspiration President Kim Dae Jung or his admirers who may have nominated him
>for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
>
>Facts, Facts, Painful and Shameful Facts
>
>Apart from the 107 unionists in prison, 34 have been indicted without
>detention, 8 released on bond, and 125 wanted for arrest with warrants of
>arrest issued against them. The total number of KCTU unionists facing
>criminal action by the government this year is 274.
>
>                Unionists Arrested
>                or Wanted for Arrest
>                --------------------
>                1993              46
>                1994             161
>                1995             170
>                1996              95
>                1997              35
>                1998             274
>
>The people in prison include, Mr. KOH, Young-joo, the KCTU General Secretary
>and KIM Ho-seun, the President of the Korean Federation of Public Sector
>Unions (KFPU).
>
>On September 13, 1998, Mr. Kim Kwang-shik, the president of the Hyundai
>Motors Workers Union was also imprisoned by police following his voluntary
>report to police. Mr. Kim declared that he would report to police -- in
>response to the warrant of arrest issued against him -- to prevent any
>further arrests of other Hyundai Motors Workers Union leaders. Prior to Mr.
>Kim's "voluntary" surrender, first vice-president, general secretary, and
>planning director of the union had already been arrested and imprisoned by
>police.
>
>The continuing arrest of union leaders at the Hyundai Motors, despite the
>historic settlement of the dispute over unilateral mass dismissal for
>economic reasons, is creating new tension at the largest car maker in Korea.
>The arrests signify a systematic disregard for the agreement by the
>management and the government which have promised to withdraw all charges
>against the union leadership and members.
>
>The arrest of unionists jumped in leaps and bounds since mid-August when the
>KCTU filed a complaint to the ILO for violation of freedom of association.
>In the complaint, the KCTU noted that 57 unionists were imprisoned. But,
>since then, the imprisonment has more than doubled to reach the current
>level.
>
>Police Storming of the Strike at the Mando Machinery
>
>One of the key reasons for the dramatic increase in imprisonment of
>unionists is the police raid on the striking workers of the Mando Machinery.
>
>At 6 a.m. September 3, 1998, more than 10,000 riot police -- who were not
>able to come into action at the Hyundai Motors -- stormed the striking
>workers at 7 Mando Machinery plants. In the early morning raid, a total of
>more than 2,400 workers were 'round up' by tear gas firing riot police for
>interrogation. Later, most of the workers were released while 39, including
>the union president and other union officers, were formally arrested.
>
>The strike at the Mando Machinery broke out in mid-August when the
>management declared its plan to dismiss 1,090 workers out of some 4,000
>workers. The management's declaration was a unilateral annulment of the
>agreement adopted by the management and the union earlier in the year in
>which the management promised not to undertake any dismissals on economic
>grounds in return for union's concession.
>
>Layoff -- Not Negotiable; CBA -- Not a Real Contract
>
>Storming by the police took place as the negotiations between the union and
>management was stalled by the management intransigence. The police break up
>of the strike and the arrest of the union leaders is seen as a statement by
>the government that 'the mass dismissal of workers by management on economic
>grounds' is not a matter of negotiation between the management and union,
>and a strike by a union in the process of negotiation over the issue is an
>illegal strike. Furthermore, the police raid and arrest also signals the
>government's approval of the unilateral annulment of a labour-management
>agreement by the management. It also signifies the government approval of
>the management's unilateral abandonment of collective bargaining agreement
>which has become a frequent feature in the current economic crisis.
>
>
>-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
>for more information
>
>     Yoon Youngmo
>     International Secretary
>     KCTU
>     email: inter at kctu.org
>     fax: +82-2-765-2011
>     tel.: +82-2-765-7269
>-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
>