Massive labor movement shakes up South Korea

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Locked-out Hyundai workers stage largest demonstration in South Korean history. 12 SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 1987 Balance sheer of the Afghan Subscribe to International Viewpoint!

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In less than two months, the center of the South Korean struggle has shifted from the campus to the workplace.

Tens of thousands of workers have engaged in strikes and job actions following President Chun Doo Hwan's July 1 acceptance of major political reforms.

These were won by massive demonstrations throughout the month of June.

Longshoremen, autoworkers, miners, and other workers have shaken the Korean economy and caused the total shutdown of major plants. By Aug. 13, four of the country's five major automakers had been forced to close. Container yards at the port city of Pusan were brought to a standstill.

By Aug. 29, workers at some 600 companies across the country were on strike for better pay, safer working conditions, and free trade unions. Over 2000 companies were affected by labor disputes throughout July and August.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry reported that labor actions had cost over $1.4 billion in lost business from July 25 to Aug. 13.

Workers win major victories On Aug. 28, a 19-day dispute at the giant Daewoo shipyard was settled when the strikers won a large wage increase. The settlement came a week after the Hyundai Motor Co. was compelled to come to terms with striking workers there.

Hyundai had locked out workers at six of its industrial plants to counter the formation of a new independent union. Over 50,000 workers held mass demonstrations following the lockout and virtually took over the southern city of Ulsan.

The unrest forced the government to send a negotiations team to Ulsan to draw up terms for a compromise. Although the Hyundai workers agreed to exclude any "outside elements" from their organization, they won their key demand of recognition of their new industrial union.

Demand for free unions A great number of strikers in South Korea are not members of any trade union. Those workers who are unionized belong to the government-controlled Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the only labor organization allowed to function legally.

The FKTU has long been a supporter of the ruling Democratic Justice Party. Its primary function has been to police the Korean workforce rather than represent it.

The struggle against the FKTU has become a part of the struggle against the Korean capitalists, and the demand for independent, democratic trade unions has rung out alongside the demands over wages and working conditions.

Labor ministry officials said that between July 1 and July 27, 100 new labor unions were formed. Some of them were in the International VIEWPOINT country's 10 largest corporations—which had been unorganized. The union recognition won by the workers at Hyundai Motor Co. should set the tone for other independent union activists.

The growing sentiment against the FKTU and the risê of independent union activity forced the federation's leadership to take a more militant stand on issues they had previously left untouched Min Yo Ki, the FKTU's general secretary, recently made statements against the government and the "imbalanced development between the employer and the employee."

However, Min went on to assert that the Federation will maintain its ties to the ruling party. He also confessed to the Los Angeles Times that his new aggressive posture is an attempt to "absorb a lot of these so-called radicals and their supporters" into the FKTU.

Roots of labor upsurge The spark which ignited the current wave of strikes came from the successful June demonstrations against the government. These mass actions culminated in President Chun Doo Hwan's July 1 decision to enact major political reforms, including direct presidential elections before the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Workers participated in these demonstrations alongside students and other activists. This victory and the atmosphere of political liberalization which followed Chun's decision gave workers the confidence they needed to struggle for their own demands.

While these demonstrations pushed the labor movement into motion, the current strike wave has its roots in the enormous economic and political oppression the workers of South Korea have lived under for decades.

The FKTU states that the average workweek for a South Korean worker last year was 54.4 hours. This is the longest workweek in the world. The average monthly wage, however, is only $370.

The "economic miracle" of South Korean productivity has also taken a devastating human toll. The United Nations International Labor Organization reported that 1718 workers were killed on the job last year and 141,809 were disabled. Like the workweek, the incidence of industrial accidents in South Korea ranks as the highest in the world.

A cautious approach In the past, labor unrest led to major attacks on the workers by the military governments that have ruled the country. The massive scope of the current strike wave, however, has forced the ruling party to take a more cautious approach.

A possible example of what this will mean in upcoming negotiations was seen at the recent Hyundai Motor Co. strike.

Deputy Labor Minister Han Jin Hee flew to Ulsan on Aug. 18 to deal with the labor unrest which followed the Hyundai lockout.

After meeting with top Hyundai officials and representatives of the Ulsan police department, Han put a proposal before thousands of rallying workers in the Hyundai sports stadium. The strikers agreed to return to work under the banner of their new union and to begin negotiations for wage increases.

The Labor Ministry portrayed itself as a neutral party intervening in the interest of social stability. But the new "winds of Like the workweek, the incidence of accidents in South Korea ranks as the highest in the world.

democracy" in the ruling party had nothing to do with the government's apparently "benevolent" role.

The power and determination of the Hyundai strikers was the decisive factor in the Ulsan victory. The Labor Ministry's only interest was to put a lid on the massive strike and to prevent it from spreading. Undoubtedly, Han Jin Hee hopes he can pacify the Hyundai workers and launch an attack on them at some future date.

Although the government of South Korea has been largely discredited this summer in the eyes of most Koreans, there is still danger of confusion on its role as mediator between the workers and capitalists.

The Korean government and the ruling Democratic Justice Party have shown themselves time and again to be enemies of labor. President Chun Doo Hwan suspended all collective bargaining upon seizing power in 1980.

In future negotiations, the Korean workers must not be tricked into believing Sandro Tucci that the government is a neutral party or a that the government "friend of labor."

Reforms inadequate

Kim Young Sam, the head of the opposition Reunification Democratic Party (RDP), pleaded with striking workers on Aug. 10 not to give the government "an excuse to deter liberalization of political reforms that were undertaken in July after weeks of rioting in Seoul and other cities."

The workers have asked, however, what "political liberalization" and "democracy" can mean alongside the massive social inequality which exists in South Korea.

Unlike the leadership of the RDP, the students and activists who led the June demonstrations clearly see the connection between their struggle for political change and the workers' struggle for economic justice.

At a demonstration in downtown Seoul on Aug. 12, a new slogan was heard with the demands against U.S. imperialism and the government: "Overthrow the military dictatorship trampling on labor."

Opening of the campuses In another important development, on Aug. 25, the South Korean government arrested six leaders of the Yonsei University student council. On Aug. 27, the government ordered a campaign to clamp down on "pro-communist" agitators.

Prime Minister Kim Chung Yul blamed outside "elements" for stirring up the labor movement, and vowed "to resolutely exterminate these forces from society." Justice Minister Chung Hae Chang reported that he is preparing charges against at least 60 "subversives" suspected of inciting labor unrest.

On Aug. 28, the government went beyond these limited measures against individuals and initiated the largest crackdown on opposition forces since June. Thousands of police broke up rallies by students and workers throughout the country.

The most massive confrontation occurred during the funeral procession for a worker killed by police at the Daewoo shipyard. Two thousand police turned back 28 buses of mourners and forced them to return home.

These repressive acts, many of them targeting student activists, are due to government apprehension over the possibility of united actions between students and workers this fall. The potential for another major explosion is high.

South Korea provides a stunning example of the power that working people wield through mass action. International solidarity with their struggle is essential.

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