9/2/2023 0 Comments Kctu general strikeThe confrontation between labor and capital brewing in South Korea today is another chapter in this bloody history. troops, and decades of martial law and anti-communist state terror all played their part in the rise of the chaebol. That story is for another time, but a general description still paints a chilling picture: participation in the Vietnam War, the separation of families and sale of children through the trans-national adoption system, state management of a sex industry catered to occupying U.S. Forty years of U.S.-backed right-wing dictatorships set the political conditions for the growth of South Korean industry. Often hailed as a “miracle on the Han river,” the story of economic development in South Korea has always had its winners and losers. We work the same as regular workers, but we don’t even get half the pay.” How We Got Here: Demystifying South Korea’s Rise Our wages need to increase but have stayed the same. One coal miner recounted the plight of irregular workers:“The government reduced the labor force by half, so our unit now has to do the job of two units. Coal miners at Korea Coal, a government-owned coal mining corporation, are suffering health conditions from breathing in coal dust and overwork. Can you sleep?!”Įxploitation and unsafe conditions are consistent across industries. One worker exclaimed, “What did we do wrong? Imagine this giant conglomerate comes and floods your bedroom. LG hired goons to pour water into the workers’ tents as they slept. Earlier this year, cleaning staff for LG Twin Towers (the company’s skyscraper headquarters) camped outside the company building for 136 days in the coldest winter months to protest layoffs and exploitative workplace conditions. As South Korea undergoes blowback from the effects of COVID-19 on the global economy, these crises have only sharpened.īehind the shiny electronics and cars that chaebol like Samsung, Hyundai or LG are known for lie countless stories of exploitation. The top 10 percent of earners claimed 45 percent of total income in 2016, real estate speculation has led to a housing crisis, and privatization in education and health care are expanding disparities. With an economy and society dominated by corporate conglomerates known as chaebol, South Korean people face increasingly bleak prospects. Over 40 percent of all workers are considered “ irregular workers.” As in the U.S., many of these irregular workers labor in the gig economy, beholden to tech giants’ apps. Today, South Korea ranks third in highest annual working hours and as of 2015 it was third in workplace deaths among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). South Korea Today: Overworked and Job-Insecure Nationalize key industries and socialize basic services like education and housing. Give workers power in economic restructuring decisions during times of crisis The 15 detailed demands of the strike can be summarized as fitting within three basic areas:Ībolish “irregular work” (part-time, temporary or contract labor with little or no benefits) and extend labor protections to all workers
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |