Back on the rails
The Korean rail strike has come to an end after massive repression from the employer (Korail) and the state. Some 2200 workers were ‘dismissed’ on Friday and more than 400 strikers were arrested by the police for ‘questioning’ or for holding an ‘illegal sit in’. It’s an informative illustration of the real lack of rights of workers in Korea. Despite all the rhetoric of a ‘leftwing’ and inclusive government, as soon as workers come out on strike to defend their conditions or the integrity of public services, the old repressive state comes down on their heads like a ton of bricks.
It seems this won’t be the end of the matter. The president of Korail, Lee Chul, is taking an uncompromising stand and threatening disciplinary action against the strikers, which they are obviously promising to resist:
“We’ve returned to work, but it does not mean we’ve stopped fighting. If the corporation cracks down on unionists at workplaces, or slaps disciplinary actions on us and continues to ignore our demands for better working conditions, we can stage a strike again,'’ a unionist said.
Oh My News had a good report from a rally of the rail workers at a park in Pusan while Pressian also had a long and interesting piece on the subject. Ta Hamkke produced a special edition of their newspaper on the strike which can be viewed here (only works with IE for some reason)
Meanwhile, in other casual (’irregular’) worker related news, a correspondent in the comments box below points out the recent ruling of the National Human Rights Commission that temporary teachers should not be discriminated against in terms of salary. Also this week, the KCTU decided to call off its action over the bill on casual workers for the time being, after the parliamentary session ended without it being passed. The bill will now have to wait until the next session in April, hopefully giving more opportunity for pressure from the labour movement to have it dropped or significantly revised.
