INTERNATIONAL LABOUR-KOREA:

SSANGYONG MOTORS STRUGGLES ON:

There is one advantage to being an eternal pessimist. When you are wrong you pleasantly surprised. Late last month I reported that the plant occupation at Ssangyong Motors in Korea had been violently evicted by the police in attack on the workers there. It turns out that I was wrong. What happened is that the workers involved had a "Plan B", and they retreated to the "painting section" of the plant in the expectation that the invaders wouldn't fire their weapons into an area containing volatile chemicals. To their credit the superiors of the invading force recognized the "problem" and, rather than risk some very bad publicity by ordering their tools to fire while beating a hasty retreat from the area themselves ordered a withdrawal. I wonder how you say "boom" in Korean. The workers still hold the plant. A liitle bit chancy, depending upon the rationality of the opponent for sure, but, in this case it worked. I hope the comrades in Korea had lots of tobacco and alcohol to relax afterwards. I'd certainly need it once the adrenalin buzz dissipated. Personally I could see myself doing the same in "the heat of battle", but I'd sure need to unwind once I wasn't convinced that the enemy wasn't going to blow themselves up along with me. More on what happened afterwards later on this blog. But for now, the Korean comrades still need your support. Here's an item from the Australia Asia Worker Links site asking you to send messages of solidarity to the workers involved.

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Urgent appeal for solidarity with Ssangyong workers in Korea:
Urgent Appeal for Solidarity
1700 Workers of Ssangyong in Korea have been in strike to defend their Jobs beginning on the 28th of May. The plant is occupied by workers and their families. On 27th of June, 3000 armed strikebreakers, supported by water guns and helicopters, tried to break the resistance.

After more than 24 hours, the company withdrew their strikebreakers.

Workers in Korea fight a very important struggle against the burden of the capitalist crisis. They need our solidarity from all over the world.

Solidarity messages can be sent to:
Korean Metal Workers’ Union – KMWU
5th Floor, Daeyoung Bld.

139 Youngdeungpo-2-ga

Youngdeungpo-ku

Seoul 150-982

Korea
Tel: (+82) 2 2670 9515
Fax: (+82) 2 714-0662
E-mail inter@metal.nodong.org
More information:
International Metalworkers Federation
Korean Metal Workers Union
Korean Council of Trade Unions
Action:
Click here to send your solidarity message