The National Alliance for Democracy and Reunification, in a
statement on March 9, branded the reamendment of the labor law
agreed to by the ruling and opposition parties of south Korea as
the second retrogressive revision and declared it could not
accept it.
According to Seoul radio reports, the organization said that
the amendment in which provisions for "flexible working hours,"
"layoffs" and other "poisonous articles" are not struck out is
the result of political negotiations which ignore the opinion of
the people. The organization urged the rewriting of the labor
law on democratic lines.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions contended that the
reamendment of the labor law agreed to by the ruling and
opposition parties on March 8 is barely different than that which
was railroaded at the end of last year. The Confederation
declared that it would stage a general strike in May to have the
articles which threaten the basic rights of the workers
withdrawn.
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions visited the buildings
of the opposition National Congress for New Politics and United
Liberal Democrats on March 10 and published a statement
denouncing the current reamendment of the labor law as a product
of backroom political negotiations.
The organization warned that it would stage the third
general strike slated for May ahead of schedule unless the
reamendment of the labor law is immediately withdrawn and the
labor law is rewritten in line with international standards.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
