Activists from the APL and the CIU picketed the South Korean embassy in Makati yesterday morning to denounce the anti-union policies of Pres. Kim Dae-jung. The picket was part of a global campaign to focus the world'sattention to the plight of South Korean unionists as hundreds of millions watch the final leg of the month-long World Cup.
A scuffle with the building’s security guards and some members of the Makati police ensued as the protesters tried to block the entrance of the Pacific Star building where the office of the South Korean ambassador is located.
During the protest action, APL and CIU representatives handed over to an embassy staff their letters of protest addressed to Pres. Kim Dae-Jung. They scored Kim for his blind obedience to neoliberalism and for using brutalities against organized labor, methods used by his fascist predecessors.
Meanwhile, similar actions were held in Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, New Delhi, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur.
The international day of action, dubbed as "Our Team Won't Be at the World Cup" campaign, was fully supported by various Global Unions such as the International Union of Food and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), the International Metalworkers Federation (IMF), the Public Services International (PSI) and by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).
APL Letter to Pres. Kim Dae-Jung
27 June 2002
HIS EXCELLENCY
KIM DAE-JUNG
President of the Republic of Korea
Thru: H.E. SON SANG-HA
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Embassy of South Korea
10/F The Pacific Star Bldg.
Makati Ave., Makati City
Philippines
Dear Mr. President:
The undersigned represents all the officers and members of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), a labor center of trade unions and other organizations of working people in the private and informal sectors in the Philippines.
We wish to convey our disgust for your government’s persistent actions against your country’s labor movement. This is not only ironic but even more painful because you have been installed in 1998 by the Korean people, including the trade unionists that your administration is now battering, with full of hopes that you will usher in an era of vibrant democracy after Korea suffered from decades of military and civilian dictatorships.
Since your apparent political turnaround, and in blind defense of neoliberal economic and corporate rule, a growing number of South Korean workers have joined or are now at the brink of joining the unemployed and underemployed ranks. As if this is not enough and reminiscent of South Korea’s dark past, draconian laws and brutalities are increasingly being unleashed on your country’s organized labor.
Recent data reveal that almost 1,800 trade unionists are facing different forms of “legal actions,” including those “invited for questioning” by the police and candidates for possible arrest and imprisonment – all due to their trade union involvement but slapped with flimsy charges or trumped up cases. As if turning the table, employers in 32 companies that experienced various industrial actions have filed “damage claims” versus the unions or their leaders amounting to a staggering 125.43 billion won, which resulted to the freezing of the bank accounts of the said unions and putting under court control the bank accounts, assets and wages of individual unionists. For upholding labor and trade union rights and welfare, at least 2,560 workers have been meted out with a wide range of punishment, including suspensions and outright dismissals. Among these are the sacking of six leaders of the newly established Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU), which your government has arbitrarily banned, and 26 leaders of the Korean Teachers Union (KTU).
And obviously an attempt to put on a façade of “peace and order” in the current World Cup, which South Korea is co-hosting with Japan, your government has imposed “preemptive measures” designed to further “silence” the Korean trade unions, especially during the duration of this month-long sports event being watched by hundreds of millions of people around the world. This has aptly been described as the rise of the Korean football team “is more than matched by the increase in the number of imprisoned trade unionists.” Thus, the 32 jailed trade unionists listed when the international labor movement launched “Our Team Won’t be at the World Cup” campaign have grown to 46 as of June 24, several days left before the WC finals.
In fact, many South Korean workers have failed to fully enjoy the fanfare and excitement of the World Cup. They are either being held in prisons or hunted at present by Korean authorities for their trade union activities. Included here is Dan Byung-ho, the jailed president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, who was sentenced to two-year imprisonment just before the start of the games. To think that he is even a member of the Korean World Cup Organizing Committee, but the latter – instead of calling for Dan’s release – has even “requested” KCTU to refrain from staging “industrial actions” before and during the World Cup. KCTU, in turn, reiterated its call for an end to Korea’s anti-worker and anti-union policies, including freedom for Dan and all incarcerated unionists; as well as for FIFA (football’s international governing body) to prove its avowed pledge to stop child labor in the football business and to ensure trade union rights in the entire process of football production.
APL and other civil society groups here in the Philippines are therefore joining today’s International Day of Action for the Release of Imprisoned Korean Trade Unionists, which was declared by the Korean workers along with the Global Unions. APL further calls the South Korean government to immediately stop trade union repression and to fully respect labor and trade union rights, which are actually both human rights and not only legitimate but universally recognized.
Sincerely,
DANIEL EDRALIN
APL Chairperson
cc: KCTU
IUF (International Union of Food and Allied Workers’ Associations)
IMF (International Metalworkers Federation)
PSI (Public Services International)
ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions)
FKTU (Federation of Korean Trade Unions)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comment here: