by the Power of the Working Class (Preparatory Group)
The workers of South Korea have suffered yet another violent and brutal crackdown at the hands of Nobel Peace Prize-winner President Kim Dae-jung.
On the afternoon of February 20, over 4,000 armed riot cops stormed Daewoo Motors’ Bupyong plant, which was being peacefully occupied by several hundred striking workers and their families. Many were viciously beaten and 76 were taken in for questioning. The cops have detained 7 union leaders and are out to arrest 29 more.
The very next day, on February 21, Daewoo’s creditor banks gave the company a pat on the head for the crackdown by extending the credit period and providing it with even more funds. This shows who this is all basically for, whose interests the whole vile affair is all about. As this is being written, arrest warrants are also being drawn up for the top leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
The Bupyong workers had begun a strike on February 16, in opposition to the company and regime’s mass sacking of 1,750 workers. What’s more, many of this 1,750 are the key union activists and militant workers in the plant – an open attempt to destroy the union in Bupyong. This sacking comes on top of some 3,500 that have been laid off since last November, and thousands more since the collapse of the Daewoo empire in late 1998.
The completion of Daewoo Motors’ restructuring and its sell-off overseas is vital for the onward march of the regime’s neoliberal “reforms”, which are nothing but a desperate bid to salvage a deeply crisis-ridden capitalist economy at the enormous expense of working people’s living conditions and democratic rights. Its result is billions of dollars of handouts to the corporate robbers, while working people suffer more and more unbearable hardships. And when workers resort to mass struggle to defend even the little they still have, the regime thunders down with batons and boots. It is nothing short of a war on South Korean working people. However, since the crackdown, the workers have courageously begun to regroup. They are holding daily rallies in Bupyong and attracting the support of other workers and organisations. In response, the regime has deployed even more cops and are attempting to suppress any attempts at protest. It is almost like a return to the days of military rule when we had to converge at pre-arranged locations to hold surprise demonstrations.
We urgently call on the international workers movement to take immediate solidarity action to place international pressure on the vicious Kim Dae-jung regime. We request protests and industrial action to target the South Korean government’s embassies and consulates, Daewoo Motors outlets and service centres, as well as any other South Korean government representative institutions and figures.
A Call for International Solidarity Action
Solidarity with the Daewoo Motor Workers!
Condemn the Kim Dae-jung Regime!
A Call for International Solidarity Action
by the Power of the Working Class (Preparatory Group)
The workers of South Korea have suffered yet another violent and brutal
crackdown at the hands of Nobel Peace Prize-winner President Kim
Dae-jung.
On the afternoon of February 20, over 4,000 armed riot cops stormed
Daewoo Motors’ Bupyong plant, which was being peacefully occupied by
several hundred striking workers and their families. Many were viciously
beaten and 76 were taken in for questioning. The cops have detained 7
union leaders and are out to arrest 29 more.
The very next day, on February 21, Daewoo’s creditor banks gave the
company a pat on the head for the crackdown by extending the credit
period and providing it with even more funds. This shows who this is all
basically for, whose interests the whole vile affair is all about. As
this is being written, arrest warrants are also being drawn up for the
top leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.
The Bupyong workers had begun a strike on February 16, in opposition to
the company and regime’s mass sacking of 1,750 workers. What’s more,
many of this 1,750 are the key union activists and militant workers in
the plant – an open attempt to destroy the union in Bupyong. This
sacking comes on top of some 3,500 that have been laid off since last
November, and thousands more since the collapse of the Daewoo empire in
late 1998.
The completion of Daewoo Motors’ restructuring and its sell-off overseas
is vital for the onward march of the regime’s neoliberal “reforms”,
which are nothing but a desperate bid to salvage a deeply crisis-ridden
capitalist economy at the enormous expense of working people’s living
conditions and democratic rights. Its result is billions of dollars of
handouts to the corporate robbers, while working people suffer more and
more unbearable hardships. And when workers resort to mass struggle to
defend even the little they still have, the regime thunders down with
batons and boots. It is nothing short of a war on South Korean working
people.
However, since the crackdown, the workers have courageously begun to
regroup. They are holding daily rallies in Bupyong and attracting the
support of other workers and organisations. In response, the regime has
deployed even more cops and are attempting to suppress any attempts at
protest. It is almost like a return to the days of military rule when we
had to converge at pre-arranged locations to hold surprise
demonstrations.
We urgently call on the international workers movement to take immediate
solidarity action to place international pressure on the vicious Kim
Dae-jung regime. We request protests and industrial action to target the
South Korean government’s embassies and consulates, Daewoo Motors
outlets and service centres, as well as any other South Korean
government representative institutions and figures.
* Stop the mass sackings!
* Kim Dae-jung regime Resign Now!
* Release the Arrested Now!
* Nationalise Daewoo Motors!