hankyoreh

“Chairman Cho Nam-ho, please listen to what we have to say.” This was the message conveyed in an interview with the Hankyoreh by Kim Jin-suk, a member of the Busan office Direction Committee for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), who today marked the 171st day of her aerial protest aboard a 35-meter tower crane within Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction‘s (HHIC) Yeongdo shipyard in Busan. The only person with the key to resolving the situation at the company, where a strike over layoffs has been under way for over five months, is its chairman, Cho Nam-ho.
But Cho appears to have made up his mind to ignore the earnest demands of Kim, who is carrying out a trying protest in the roughly three-meter-square cockpit of the crane, or the 170 other union members who were dismissed. Yesterday, he presented a notice to the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee stating that he would be out of the country on business through July 2. In other words, he will be unable to attend either the committee’s general meeting on June 22 or the the HHIC hearing scheduled for June 27. It is apparent that unless Cho attends, the meeting and hearing will end up as a vain effort. In particular, it has been reported that he did at one point indicate his intent to appear as a witness at the general meeting, only to change his mind. The situation at Hanjin has gone beyond a labor-management conflict and become a key social issue. It is irresponsible and immoral for its chief executive to flee overseas ahead of National Assembly discussions.
As has been stated before, the root cause of the situation is the company’s decision to fire 170 workers in February citing “management reasons.” It is nothing more than a petty ploy to effect layoffs with claims about “no material orders over the past two years” when the company has reaped over 400 billion won ($369.3 million) in profits over the past ten years and has been building vessels at the Subic shipyard in the Philippines. And given that shareholders feasted on 17.4 billion won in dividends the day after the layoffs, the ethical laxity is considerable.
Moreover, HHIC has even ignored an employment security agreement between labor and management stating that it would not undertake restructuring efforts. But the Supreme Court recently ruled that similar layoffs at Jinbang Steel were without grounds, while the Seoul Southern District Court ruled to invalidate layoffs the Korea Airports Corporation’s attempt to enact layoffs through a strict application of “management reasons.” In both moral and legal terms, the rationale behind the HHIC layoffs is appearing less and less convincing.
In addition to appearing before the National Assembly Standing Committee, It is time for Cho Nam-ho to immediately enter negotiations with the union to resolve the situation peacefully. This would also enable him to recover his tarnished social reputation. The National Assembly, for its part, should fulfill its responsibility as a mediator of social conflict by becoming actively involved in the HHIC situation.
　　
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]