Workers around the world
By Andy McInerney
SOUTH KOREA
Unions protest repression
Tens of thousands of unionists demonstrated across south
Korea on July 20 to protest the government's brutal crackdown
against striking workers in June. The Korean Confederation of
Trade Unions estimated that 20,000 workers joined rallies in
10 cities, including Seoul, Ulsan and Kwagju.
The rallies were part of a campaign to denounce the
government after two assaults on strikers. On June 29, riot
police stormed the Lotte Hotel in Seoul to break up a strike.
The next day, cops broke up a strike at the National Health
Insurance Co.
Close to 3,000 workers were arrested in those two sweeps.
Scores were injured during the cop attacks.
In addition to the mass mobilizations against the
government attack, the KCTU is organizing a boycott of Lotte
products and services and is displaying photos of the assault
at public sites around south Korea.
Bank workers win job security
It took less than 24 hours on the picket lines for south
Korean bank workers to win their demands. The July 12 strike
followed months of preparations by the workers as they faced
off against bosses determined to force layoffs.
The workers at three state-financed banks are affiliated
with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. Thousands had
already lost their jobs in the mergers and restructuring that
came after the 1998 financial crisis in south Korea.
Under the terms of the settlement, holding companies will
be allowed to run the banks--a move that workers had fought
because it would ease mergers. But bosses were forced to
guarantee no forced mergers or layoffs.
INDONESIA
Farmers demand land, reforms
Thousands of farmers have been pressing for the return of
land seized by the former Suharto dictatorship. They charge
that they were forced to give up their land to big landowners
and corporations owned by Suharto allies.
On July 18, 1,000 farmers--mostly small landowners or farm
workers--rallied in Jakarta under the banner, "Return our
land that has been forcibly taken over by conglomerates."
They called for the release of activists arrested during the
campaign and for other reforms aimed at protecting the right
to organize.
One reform the farmers are aiming for is protection from
"capitalists."
Several days later, close to 800 farm workers brought the
campaign to Muara Enim in South Sumatra. That demonstration
turned bloody when cops fired on the rally.
One farm worker was killed and over 100 injured following
the police attack. Two leaders of the National Peasants Union
were held incommunicado for days, sev erely beaten and denied
access to doctors.
Police in South Sumatra have issued arrest orders for
anyone in the area "wear ing red or with student identity
cards," according to an appeal for solidar ity by the
Australia-based Action in Soli darity with Indonesia and East
Timor.
BANGLADESH
Garment workers fight relocation
Some 300 garment workers at the Jikon garment factory in
Dhaka, Bangladesh, are waging a campaign to save their jobs.
Jikon bosses are trying to move the factory to Gazipur, about
40 miles away.
On June 30, the workers organized a protest rally at the
factory to demand compensation for the workers who could not
move to the new location. The next week, on July 7, the
workers formed a human chain to protest the company's plans,
according to a report by Amirul Haque Amin, general secretary
of the National Garment Workers Federation.
On July 15, the NGWF organized a third demonstration at
the factory, where workers from nearby sites joined the Jikon
workers.
MEXICO
March spotlights women's unpaid labor
"No woman should lift a finger on July 22." That was the
message of a 500-woman-strong rally in Mexico City July
21.
For the second year in a row, women in Mexico City staged
actions to call attention to the vast amount of work that is
almost always unpaid and falls disproportionately on women's
shoulders. The demonstration was organized to prepare for a
strike against household work on July 22.
The ProMujer Program for the Equal Participation of Women
organized the actions. The 1995 UN International Women's
Conference held in Beijing designated July 22 as
International Day of Domestic Workers.
"We have to work in the fields, work another job to make
ends meet, and then come home and do everything at home,"
said Blanca Reina, a rural worker from nearby Milpa Alta.
The demonstration appealed to men to do their share of
household work.
The march also highlighted the plight of Mexico City's 1.7
million women who work as maids. "There are a lot of
disrespectful names used for maids, so we consulted our
members and decided they should be called home employees,"
said Gaudencia Valdez of La Esperanza, an organization for
these women workers.
"Home employees don't get health care, benefits or
vacation," she said. "Our work must be recognized as being
equal to any other kind of job."
LEBANON.
Workers protest economic policies
Thousands marched through the streets of Beirut on July 12
to protest government economic policies. The march was
organized by the 350,000-member General Labor Union and was
backed by the Lebanese Communist Party, the National Syrian
Socialist Party, Hez bol lah, and other political
organizations.
"Beware the anger of the hungry
people," one banner read.
Demonstrators called for higher salaries, an end to
indirect taxes of various kinds, and rate cuts for services
like water and electricity.
PANAMA
Struggle continues to raise salaries
Panamanian workers are locked in a battle with the
government and bosses over salary raises. The National
Council of Organized Workers (CONATO) is push ing for raises
of 100 percent to make up for increases in the cost of
living. Bosses are offering 11 percent raises, while the
government has suggested a 13 percent raise.
CONATO is organizing several actions to protest the
government's low proposal. On July 24 and 25, workers will
block streets throughout the capital. On July 26, the union
federation has called for a mass march to press for the
raises.
Gabriel Castillo, CONATO's secretary general, told
Panama's daily El Universal that the rallies would also
demand the resignation of the minister of labor,
Joaquín Vallarino, as a "traitor to the interests of
the working class."
The union had originally called for a general strike on
July 26. But a July 22 meeting of national union leaders
voted unanimously to suspend the strike call. "Other very
important struggles remain on the horizon," Castillo
explained, refer ring to government plans to privatize
several services. "The labor movement needs to save its
forces to confront these measures."
Business leaders breathed a sigh of relief, praising the
union's "maturity." But CONATO has not ruled out reviving the
strike call if progress is not made on the salary raises.
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