hankyoreh

On October 15, in front of Kiryung Electronics in Guro-dong, Seoul, approximately 70 employees of Kiryung Electronics and a security company remove a shipping container as 10 irregular workers attempt to deter them. The container has lodged the members of the irregular workers union of Kiryung Elcetronics during a struggle that has lasted for over three years. After the container was removed, Kim So-yeon, the head of the union, was hospitalized for exhaustion.

A witness to the conflict said that a security company employee trampled on the head of a female irregular worker who had fallen down, but that police did not restrain the employee in question.

Bae Yeong-hun, the chairman of Kiryung Electronics, said, “We had no choice but to remove the container because we have to complete the move to our new office building in Sindaebang-dong, Seoul, by October 25.”

He added that he thinks a compromise between the company and irregular workers will be impossible if irregular workers fulfill a plan to go to the U.S. to urge Kiryung Electronics’ clients to discontinue their orders.

In response, the irregular workers’ union said that the company had not given them any information about the impending container removal, adding that the company does not have the right to remove the container because it was located in front of the company and not inside.

Yu Heung-hui, a member of the irregular workers union of Kiryung Elcetronics, said they had already died two deaths because of their 94-day-long hunger strike and being fired, but resolved to continue their struggle with determination.

Photo courtesy of Color TV.