Solidarity with Daewoo striking workers Four thousand armed riot police stormed the Daewoo Motors' plant at Bupyong in South Korea recently. It was being peacefully occupied by several hundred striking workers and their families protesting against massive company sackings. Many were viciously beaten and 76 were taken in for questioning. The riot police detained seven union leaders and warrants have been drawn up to arrest the top leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. Immediately after the police action the banks which had extended credit to the bankrupt company, gave the company a pat on the head for the crackdown by extending the credit period and providing it with even more funds. The action of the banks showed in whose interests the government is acting. South Korea's President is Kim Dae-jung who was recently given the Nobel Prize for Peace because of negotiations between the government of South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Bupyong workers had begun their strike when the company announced the sacking of 1,750 workers. Many of the sacked workers are key union activists and militant workers indicating that the company is out to destroy the union at its Bupyong plant. These sackings come 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 sackings are taking place under the label of "restructuring" and are related to the sell-off of Daewoo to overseas interests. The government's economic rationalist "reforms" are a desperate attempt to salvage the crisis-ridden company and the crisis-ridden economy of South Korea at the expense of the working people's living conditions and democratic rights. As in Australia, the Government is pouring billions of dollars into the pockets of the corporate robbers, while working people suffer more and more unbearable hardships. When workers resort to mass struggle to defend even the little they still have the regime thunders down with batons, tear gas, water-canon and boots. It is nothing short of a war on the South Korean working people. The workers have courageously held their ground and continue the struggle. They hold daily rallies in Bupyong and are winning the support of other workers and organisations. In response, the regime has deployed even more police and is attempting to suppress all attempts at protest. The police action recalls similar suppression of workers during the years of South Korea's military fascist rule when workers had to converge at pre-arranged locations to hold surprise demonstrations. The Daewoo workers and their unions are calling for urgent international solidarity support. "We urgently call on the international workers' movement to take immediate solidarity action to place pressure on the vicious Kim Dae-jung regime. We request protests and industrial action to target the South Korean Government's embassies and consulates and the outlets and service centres of Daewoo Motors", says their appeal. Send protest messages to Ambassador, Embassy Republic of Korea, 113 Empire Circuit, Yarralumla, ACT 2600. Fax: (02) 6273 4839. Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please send solidarity messages and copies of protests to: Park Seong-In, General Secretary, Power of the Working Class (PWC) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________ Marxist-Leninist-List mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/marxist-leninist-list
