24 November, 2010Hyundai Motor precarious workers in Ulsan, Korea continue strike after demanding the company employ in-house subcontracted workers directly.
KOREA: Precarious workers organized by the Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) at Hyundai Motor started a sit-in strike on November 15 at the first factory of the Ulsan plant.
Forty workers of the in-house subcontractor entered into the first seat factory of Hyundai Motor where they work at around 5:30am demanding Hyundai Motor employ in-house subcontracted workers directly in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling on July 22. The workers started the sit-in protest and stopped a manufacturing line.
The strike came after the workers were dismissed unexpectedly on November 15 due to the subcontractor's notice of closure of business on October 14 and Hyundai Motor's terminating the subcontract. Hyundai Motor was insisting that the workers would only be rehired by the new subcontracting company if they withdrew their membership from the KMWU.
Hyundai Motor Ulsan non-regular workers' local branch of KMWU already resolved on November 4 that the unionized workers in the seat factories would not sign a new employment contract with a new subcontracted employer and planned to start the strike when the company dismissed them.
However, all of the workers were hauled out violently by the company thugs and immediately arrested by the police after only one hour of protest.
After that, 500 workers gathered in front of the car seat first factory and the KMWU called for an urgent afternoon strike of the unionized subcontracted workers at the 1st and 2nd plant of Hyundai Motor Ulsan. Consequently, KMWU notified an overall strike from the night shift to all unionized non-regular workers of all five plants and 1,000 workers gathered at the first plant and started sit-in strike there from 21:00, also supported by the regular workers' representatives of KMWU Hyundai Motor Branch.
On November 17, 500 non-regular workers left the first plant and entered the second and third plant in order to organize a bigger sit-in strike along with the support of the unionized directly employed workers at Hyundai Motor. The strike was also conducted by non-regular workers unionized at Jeonju and Asan Plants.
Meanwhile, in-house subcontracted workers have increasingly joined the union after the Supreme Court ruling on July 22. More than 1,500 workers have been unionized since this ruling. KMWU will have its 28th periodical representative congress on November 22 and the planning of its industrial general strike of December 1 will be discussed and decided.
The IMF calls on its affiliates to support a solidarity message to the striking workers published here by sending your message of support to the KMWU international department at: [email protected] & [email protected] copied to IMF at [email protected]