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Largest Rally Held in Seoul
South Korea's two major federations of trade unions held the year¡¯s largest rally jointly Sunday to denounce the government¡¯s policy of pushing through restructuring in the public sector.
The massive assembly of members from the conservative Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and progressive Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) at the Seoul Railway Station plaza was a signal for the launch of their joint ¡°winter struggle¡± against the government.
Following Sunday¡¯s solidarity rally of the two rivals, the conflict between the labor circle and the government is expected to intensify as unionized workers across the nation plan to hold further rallies or go on strike this week.
Some 20,000 union members from public corporations attended the Sunday rally of the FKTU and KCTU to kick off their second all-out struggle and urged the government to stop restructuring in their firms.
Kim Yon-Hwan, chairman of the Korean Federation of Transportation and Public & Social Services Workers' Unions (KPSU), criticized the government in his address for publicly declaring the second round of restructuring in the public sector. He claimed workers at state-run and public firms have been suffering pains due to the government¡¯s compulsory policies of reducing manpower and selling off some of the corporations.
Labor unions in the public sector designated Nov. 30 the ¡°day of joint action¡± along with the Korea Metal Workers Federation. They plan to hold assemblies at about 10 different locations across the nation on this day.
They are also set to launch definite or partial strikes at each workplace after the assemblies, while the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Union will enter a strike Nov. 29.
The labor union of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) plans to commence a general strike Nov. 30 unless satisfactory changes are made to the government¡¯s plan to push through restructuring in the electricity industry by Nov. 29.
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