http://www.ituc-csi.org/korea-authorities-targeting The ITUC has learnt
that police in Korea are targeting hundreds of trade unionists in advance of a
planned December 5 rally of unions and other civil society organisations,
stepping up repression of those opposed to the business-friendly policies of
President Park Geun-hye. A total of 411 people have been identified from
photographs taken at public rallies and are facing summons and arrest.
President Park, daughter of former military dictator Park Chung-hee, is facing
intense criticism at home and abroad for the government’s attacks on freedom of
assembly and workers’ rights.
In just the past two weeks, 9 members and officials from the
public service and transport union KPTU have been arrested, and a further 5
officials from the tower crane branch of the construction union KCWU were
imprisoned. The crane operators were jailed for seeking a collective
bargaining agreement with a crane rental company. Despite a court ruling
that they were entitled to seek an agreement, and the fact that the union has
agreements with 142 other such rental companies, prosecutors took the case to
an appellate court to have arrest warrants issued. A local official of
the KCTU national trade union centre was also detained on 2 December,
continuing a pattern of surveillance, harassment and imprisonment.
ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said, “The Korean
government is acting in a dictatorial and abusive manner to its own people,
using arrest and imprisonment to back employers which refuse to respect basic
rights to union representation and collective bargaining. Korea is
betraying its commitments at the ILO and the OECD to uphold international
labour standards. This is a very dangerous path for any country. We call
on the government to recognise that it is behaving in a manner which
contradicts core principles of democracy and to cease its attack on fundamental
liberties”.
The ITUC represents 180 million workers in 162 countries and
territories and has 333 national affiliates.