[asia-apec 309] KCTU Report No. 10a

[alarm]

Strike Urgent Report #10 
edited on January. 11, 1997, at 09:00 

Eighth day of the general strike in THE SECOND WAVE 

Alert: Korean police raids union headquarters

Brussels, January 9 1997 (ICFTU OnLine): Several hundred South Korean
riot police
raided the headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
(KCTU) at
0030 am on Friday 10 Korean time, according to information reaching the
ICFTU. 
Uniformed police showing search warrants seized documents, floppy discs
as well as a
banner from the Japanese trade union Rengo which had been given to the
KCTU on
the occasion of the Japanese trade union springtime offensive last year.
The attack
followed similar raids late on Thursday on the headquarters of several
KCTU unions
(Metalworkers, hospital workers and automobilie workers). 

The KCTU which is spearheading strikes to protest against new labour
legislation
called on Thursday for the biggest strike in the nation's history. The
Federation of
Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) has announced strike action on January 14 and
15.
According to the latest information no arrest has taken place so far but
Korean state
prosecutors said they were seeking arrest warrants for 19 strike leaders
including
KCTU leader Kwon Young-kil. 

The ICFTU has called on ILO Director General Michel Hansenne to
immediately
intervene with the Korean authorities to prevent the arrest of trade
union leaders and
has decided to extend by three days the visit of its delegation to Korea
which will
arrive in Seoul on January 11 for talks with Korean trade unions as well
as for meetings
with the countries' highest authorities. 

ICFTU affiliates and International Trade Secretariats will be organising
pickets in front
of South Korean embassies in Europe's main capitals. A delegation from
the ICFTU
and its Belgian affiliate FGTB will picket the South Korean embassy in
Brussels and
the organisations' leaders will hand over a protest to the embassy
representatives. 
ICFTU General Secretary Bill Jordan said international trade union
pressure will be
escalated in an attempt to press for the Korean authorities to repeal
the anti-worker
legislation and open dialogue with the Korean labour movement.

For details contact:

ICFTU Press at ++322 224 02 12 or Other OnLine news on Poptel Bulletin
Board
ICFTU-Online for geonet users and on the WWW at:http://www.icftu.org 



International Trade Union Protest outside South Korean Embassy

Brussels, January 9 1997 (ICFTU OnLine): Bill Jordan, General Secretary
of the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and Mia De Vits,
General Secretary
of the Belgium national trade union centre, the FGTB, will lead a
protest outside the
South Korean embassy in Brussels (11.30 am 173 Chauss? de la Hulpe 1170
Brussels) about the treatment of workers in South Korea during protests
following the
adoption of new labour legislation. The two union leaders will hand in a
letter to the
Embassy asking President Kim Young-sam to repeal the new anti-labour
legislation, to
withdraw the arrest warrants issued for the seven trade union leaders,
and instead to
open dialogue with the labour movement.

On December 28, the ICFTU lodged a formal complaint against South Korea
at the
ILO, on the basis of the new legislation. Today, following the news of
the government
intention to arrest the trade union leaders, the ICFTU has called on the
ILO to
intervene with the authorities to prevent these arrests, which it has
described as a "clear
violation of the international right to strike"

This is one of a number of demonstrations and delegations which will be
taking place
throughout Europe by trade unions on January 10, following a call for
action by the
ICFTU. Unions in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland and the UK
will be
organising delegations and delivering letters.

An international trade union delegation, led by Takashi Izumi, general
secretary of the
ICFTU's Asian and Pacific Regional Organisation (ICFTU/APRO) will be in
South
Korea from Saturday, January 11 - 16, to seek meetings with the South
Korean
authorities, and to have talks with the leadership of the FKTU, and the
KCTU, the two
South Korean union bodies, and ICFTU affiliates.

For details contact ICFTU Press at ++322 224 02 12 or Other OnLine news
on
Poptel Bulletin Board ICFTU-Online for geonet users and on the WWW
at:http://www.icftu.org

International trade union delegation to visit Korea

Brussels, January 8 1997 (ICFTU OnLine): An international trade union
delegation will
arrive in Seoul on January 11 and will seek meetings with Korea's
highest authorities in
order to express the international trade union movement's concern over
developments
in the country following the adoption of new labour legislation. The
delegation will be
led by Takashi Izumi, general secretary of the ICFTU's Asian and Pacific
regional
organisation (ICFTU-APRO) and will include senior representatives of the
Paris-based
Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and of
ICFTU-associated
International Trade Secretariats (ITS, international industry trade
union federations).
Upon its arrival in Seoul, the delegation will first have talks with the
leadership of the
two ICFTU affiliates in the country: the Federation of Korean Trade
Unions (FKTU)
and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

The ICFTU and TUAC have closely followed the situation in Korea. On
December
28, the ICFTU lodged a formal complaint against Korea at the ILO on the
basis on the
new labour legislation. The TUAC for its part has called on the OECD's
Employment,
Labour and Social Affairs Committee to meet as a matter of urgency to
examine the
Korean situation. Both the ICFTU and TUAC have maintained close contact
with the
Korean trade unions and have already made representations in support of
their
demands to the Korean President Kim Young-sam.

ICFTU warns Korea against arrest of trade unionists

Brussels, January 6 1997 (ICFTU OnLine): The Brussels-based
International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has warned Korea's President
Kim
Young-sam that arrest of trade union leaders would spark off a major
international
trade union campaign targeted on Korea's international diplomatic and
economic links. 
The ICFTU fears that the summon orders issued by state prosecutors to
leaders of the
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) may be aimed at arresting
them in
order to stifle the strike movement which has erupted in Korea following
the adoption
by parliament of unfair legislation.

The ICFTU which has denounced the new legislation in a formal complaint
to the UN's
International Labour Organisation (ILO) is now planning to send a
delegation to the
country in conjunction with the Paris-based Trade Union Advisory
Committee to the
OECD (Tuac) and International Trade Secretariats (ITS). Both the ICFTU
and Tuac
consider the Korean legislation is a step backwards and is at variance
with the solemn
commitment by Korea to put its labour laws into conformity with ILO
Conventions on
freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.

"While continuing to deny workers' rights to join and form trade unions
of their own
choosing ib bith the public and private sectors and restricting trade
union solidarity
action, the law gives a freehand to Korean employers to dismiss workers
and exploit
them", says ICFTU General Secretary Bill Jordan. The ICFTU and Tuac
which have
expressed support for action taken by the KCTU and the Federation of
Korean Trade
Unions (FKTU) have called on President Kim Young-sam to abrogate the law
and
open negotiations with representatives of the Korean labour movement.
"We are now
mobilising our national affiliates as well as International Trade
Secretariats
(ICFTU-associated international industry federations), in order to be
able to respond
swiftly to any move by the Korean government to resort to reprisals
against Korean
trade union and workers who are waging a legitimate fight." Mr Jordan
said.
More than 150,000 Korean workers have responded to the KCTU call for
strike on
Monday 6 and the confederation says industrial action could esacalate
unless President
Kim Young-sam announced a repeal of the new law at a news conference
scheduled
for Tuesday. The FKTU will be organising a mass rally on January 10 and
has
threatened to resume strike action by January 11 if trade union demands
were not
met.

For details contact ICFTU Press at ++322 224 02 12 or ICFTU Trade Union
Rights
Department at ++322 2240201. Other OnLine news on Poptel Bulletin Board
ICFTU-Online for geonet users and on the WWW at:http://www.icftu.org