hankyoreh

Inside document of Yeochun NCC (YNCC), a petrochemical firm with annual sales of 3 trillion won (US$3.26 billion), showed that its management illegally intervened in the labor union election process held in December 2005, in an apparent bid to block the emergence of strong unions there.

YNCC is a firm jointly owned by large conglomerates Hanwha Group and Daelim Group, with each holding a 50-50 percent stake.

The documents, titled "P-project" and obtained by The Hankyoreh, elaborated on how the petrochemical company planned to block the election of a front-running union presidential candidate who had a track record of spearheading labor strikes in the past. In the documents, allegedly written in October 2005, three steps were suggested to prevent the emergence of militant unions by trying to block the candidate.

First, the candidate, referred to as a "tree branch" suspected of possibly calling a labor strike in the future, should be 'singled out.' Second, a "branch-cutting" action should be taken, in which negative rumors will be spread about the singled-out candidate. Finally, "gardeners" - company officials planted in the unions as spies - take action needed to eliminate the branch.

Along with the three-step process, the documents contained detailed proposals focused on underscoring negative or weak points of the candidate, such as trying to promote the notion that he was part of the 'old guard' of militant labor activists, whose stereotype is that they are bent on protecting their own interests rather than those of the public.

A separate document was also disclosed, detailing action plans when the company's management lobbied a labor union heavyweight to try to dissuade him or the "branch" from running for union office on the behalf of management.

However, defying the management's effort, Cheon Jung-geun, the militant labor activist that was the target of YNCC management's stymy efforts, was elected to be the union leader. The company fired him in January this year, citing that he was sentenced to a suspended jail term in October last year for illegal activities during a strike in 2001. Chun claimed that the move was a retaliation against labor strikes last year.

Lawyer Kang Mun-dae said the YNCC's intervention in labor union elections violates Clause 81 of the Labor Union Law, which prevents any kind of meddling or attempted domination of labor organizations.

In response, an official of YNCC said, "P-project is not an official document but one arbitrarily made by one company official." He added that there is "nothing strange" for a company to meet the involved persons to figure out what its labor union is doing when it pushes for elections or walkouts, which is how the official referred to the alleged lobby attempt on the labor union heavyweight.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]