9 February, 2012After a five-year struggle for reinstatement, triumphant Kiryung Electronics workers march from "Seoul to Ssangyong Motor", making 16 stops along the way to show solidarity with workers at struggle sites before returning to the factory floor on May 1, 2012.
KOREA: Kiryung Electronics workers, a group of formidable contract workers, mostly women, who took on a company and the full force of the state after being fired for trying to join the Korean Metal Workers Union, are among 50 unionists embarking on a 67 kilometer trek from Seoul to Pyeongtaek stopping at 16 sites along the way to support workers fighting for fundamental labour rights.
The march is an outgrowth of last year's Hope Bus Tour which has brought together trade unions and civil society partners, broadening the debate on precarious work.
An agreement between Kiryung Electronics and the workers was reached on November 1, 2010. The company promised to hire the remaining 10 union members on strike into permanent positions-- a first in Korean history where an employer has agreed to directly hire dismissed irregular workers into permanent positions. Still, the workers have had to wait until May 1 to return to the factory floor.
They keep busy.
A 30-minute train ride outside of Seoul, a crowd of 50 trade unionists and activists gathered for a candle- light vigil, one stop on the 13 day march which will culminate in an "OCCUPY SSANGYONG" event on February 11. Workers at Ssangyong Motor have been fighting for reinstatement since the company failed to honour an August 2009 agreement. The bloody battle shocked the world and prompted intervention by Amnesty International, labour and human rights groups and the International Labour Organization.
"On behalf of the International Metalworkers' Federation and the 25 million metalworkers we represent, I am very proud to be here with such strong and revolutionary trade unionists," said Kristyne Peter of the IMF to the crowd. "Korean metalworkers have a proud history at the IMF, and my fellow sisters at Kiryung have inspired us all around the world. Their struggle, their courage, and their indomitable spirit have taught us that we can go one day longer than the company, we can persevere, and we can win!"
Just before the rally in a nearby restaurant, the mood with the Kiryung workers was jovial and celebratory. "We went to all the headquarters of the major companies in Seoul," said a full-cheeked So-yeon Kim, who at the height of the struggle was a walking skeleton after waging a 94-day hunger strike that ended in hospitalization.
The women are dedicating their time before returning to Kiryung to lend solidarity to other workers' struggles. When asked if they might find the plant work boring after all this time, Kim replied, "this is what we have been fighting for."