hankyoreh

The police blocked gates to and from two shopping outlets where unionized workers of E-Land Group affiliates have been staging a sit-in for the past weeks, ratcheting up pressure on the protesters to return to work.

Unionized workers of E-land Group went on strike as the management laid off more than 900 non-regular workers in tandem with the new non-regular worker protection law that went into effect on July 1. The new law requires that companies grant its non-regular workers regular worker status after a two-year period of employment. In response, businesses have claimed that the law increases their financial burden. Just before the law went into effect, E-Land Group laid off its non-regular cashiers and outsourced their jobs to temporary agencies, rather than granting them regular status.

On July 15, 500 riot police officers barricaded the gates of a New Core store in Seocho, Seoul, where 150 unionized workers have been on strike for the eighth consecutive day. The management brought down the fire wall and welded the gate completely shut on the first floor leading to Kim’s Club, New Core Department Store and New Core Outlet, which are all retail arms of the E-land Group and are situated next door to one another. The sit-in was being held in Kim’s Club.

Approximately 500 police were also dispatched to Homever in Seongsan, Seoul, where 150 protesters have been on strike for 16 days. They blocked seven gates to and from the outlet completely so that even medical staff who were called in to attend to protesters had to wait for over three hours before being allowed entry.

Woo Seok-gyun, an executive at the Korea Federation of Medical Groups for Health Rights, an umbrella group for medical activists, said, “There are people suffering from diabetes or hypertension, both of which require daily drug administration. As the protest gets longer, many of them cannot take the necessary drugs so we feel it is necessary to give them checkups and supply them with medication.” He added, “Police have never blocked protesters from getting medical care.”

Police counter there is no need for medical staff to enter the facility since anyone who suffers inside is allowed to come out. A police officer said, “We have no choice but to prevent non-union members or others from entering since it could foster illegal demonstrations.”

At 11 p.m. on July 13, there was a physical clash between riot police and some 60 unionized workers protesting outside Homever as the latter attempted to barge into the outlet. Currently 26 of them were under police custody for investigation.

Meanwhile, E-Land Group proposed on July 15 to resume negotiations with unionized workers, five days after the talks came to a halt, as both sides have failed to find common ground.

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