Company Workers Vote for Strike


By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter


Police Tuesday flocked to Korea Government Employees’ Union (KGEU) polling stations nationwide, blocking union members from voting on a general strike set for Nov. 15.

Loud voices echoed and clubs were brandished in many stations as police hauled in dozens of union members protesting in violation of labor laws that prevent any collective action by the civil servants’ union.

Meanwhile, the nation’s largest trade union of company workers Tuesday voted to go ahead with a general strike this month to protest the government-proposed labor bills that they argue may worsen the employment conditions of irregular workers and make the status of regular workers more unstable.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which holds a membership of 595,224 workers from 854 workplaces, said it will begin a strike as soon as the bills are presented to the National Assembly. The Labor Ministry said it will submit the bills for enactment as early as this week.

Police said they deployed 25,000 riot police at some 230 polling stations, where around 14,000 union members were to cast ballots to give the go-ahead for the planned strike.

The police action came amid increasing public criticism for the union, made up of low and middle-ranking government employees, who have demanded broader labor rights, including the right to collective action. The government plans to present four labor bills for enactment aimed at banning government employees from waging a strike and limiting labor rights of union members this month.

``This is a violence of state power,’’ KGEU spokesman Chung Yong-hae said. ``Public servants are eligible for the same rights ensured to ordinary workers. We will continue to fight against the Roh Moo-hyun government to claim what is guaranteed to us in the Constitution.’’

The KGEU said it will go ahead with a general strike, regardless of the outcome of the vote.

The civil servants’ union initially said polls were in progress without a major hitch but convened emergency meetings after police stormed polling stations in the morning. Police said they seized ballots, ballot boxes, lists of eligible voters and other voting-related materials for legal action against key union members.

The KGEU has been suffering an internal feud in the lead up to the vote as hundreds of members seceded from it. Around 50 members of the KGEU Pusan chapter last week broke away from the union due to a conflict with union leadership over how to secure labor rights. The Tongyong chapter in South Kyongsang Province also decided not to participate in the vote.

Public opinion is not in the unions’ favor as well. Recent polls show over 80 percent of the population disapproves of public employees from going on strike. Most believe a strike by public workers may disrupt administrative services and aggravate the national economy amid an economic slump.

Backed by public opinion against the civil servants’ action, the government said it will deal sternly with those members taking collective action.

Police have searched the KGEU’s district offices over the last few days and arrested dozens of union members. The prosecution began a massive search for two union leaders on Monday _ union chairman Kim Young-gil and senior official Ahn Byung-soon _ after the court issued their arrest warrants.

The Labor Ministry said the four labor bills will be presented to the National Assembly this month as scheduled. The Democratic Labor Party has opposed their legislation but other political parties see it as inevitable.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr