hankyoreh

Unionized workers of E-Land Group were once again dispersed by police intervention yesterday, after staging their second sit-in at one of the retail chain’s discount outlets. The law enforcement’s move has prompted an outcry from protesters, who pledge to further step up the struggle until their demands are met.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency dispatched approximately 5,000 riot police into one of E-Land Group’s retail outlets, New Core’s Kim’s Club in Seocho, dispersing 197 E-Land Group unionists who had staged the three-day sit-in beginning July 29. Those on strike are unionized workers of New Core, an affiliate of E-Land Group.

Unionized workers at E-Land began striking at the end of last month, after management laid-off approximately 900 non-regular workers, most of whom are female cashiers, in advance of the new non-regular workers’ protection law, which went into effect on July 1. The law stipulates that all non-regular workers be converted to regular status after they have worked for a company for a period of two years and gives companies a two year grace period in which to accomplish this task. Before the law went into effect, several companies moved to outsource their workers, prompting an outcry from unions.

Labor union members convened a press conference immediately after police action commenced and pledged to continue their strike. “Police should not have gotten involved in the labor strikes at E-Land, as it has little effect on the nation’s industries,” the union said.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), an umbrella labor organization to which E-Land unionists belong, held an emergency meeting and decided to stage concurrent strikes at E-Land stores across the nation on August 5, August 11 and August 19 to support the E-Land workers.

It also plans to organize a 1,000-strong demonstration team made up of non E-Land unionists to spearhead a sit-in in front of the outlet until the disputes are resolved. “We will hold a meeting to deal with the E-land case on August 21 and plan to step up the protest,” said Lee Sok-haeng, head of the KCTU.

Labor and management of E-Land Group restarted talks later in the afternoon on July 31, following the police crackdown, 12 days after the first round of negotiations had broken down on July 19. But they failed to find common ground and the talks ended without any progress.