hankyoreh

Gyeonnggi Province

A sit-in camp in front of the Ssangyong Motors plant in Pyeongtaek is growing larger day by day. Initially, only one tent had been pitched for the Committee to Support Ssangyong Motor Workers’ Family Members, and the number began to increase starting on July 23. The camp has now grown to a total of five tents as negotiations have resumed between labor and management.

A second tent had been pitched by Democratic Labor Party (DLP) Lawmaker Hong Hee-deok, who has been on a hunger strike for nine days since July 23. Next to his tent, is a tent shared by the DLP and the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice, a tent for the New Progressive Party, and a tent shared by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Nationwide Citizens’ Committee to Correct the Automotive Industry. The tents stay up 24 hours a day, as if to watch over the striking workers.

“We released a public statement, announced the results of opinion polls, and held a photography exhibition, but the administration and the company’s stance did not change,” Hong said Friday. In response to a question about his hunger strike, he says, “It began with the thought that I should fast or do something in order to make people aware about this situation so it can be resolved peacefully.”

Hong explained that his previous experience as a landscape worker leads him to place greater attention on the situation of suffering laborers than on other pressing major issues, such as the controversial media legislation. “It is fortunate that the number of like-minded individuals has increased and labor-management negotiations have begun since the hunger strike,” he added.

The “Democratic Labor Party (DLP) tent headquarters” was installed right next to Hong’s tent on Tuesday. As the party’s “headquarters” it is continuously watched over by party leadership, including Lawmaker Kang Ki-kab and Lee Su-ho, a supreme council member of the DLP. “With so many people gathered here in prayer, I am certain the negotiations will turn out well,” Kang said.

On one side of the DLP tent, priests affiliated with the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice have been present as “peaceful bystanders” since Tuesday. Father Jo Yeong-jun said he was “praying that not one of the 700 sit-in strikers is sacrificed.” The New Progressive Party also pitched a tent sit on Thursday.

The KCTU and the Nationwide Citizens’ Committee to Correct the Automotive Industry, a 22-organizational member coalition comprised of political parties and civic group, set up a tent set Thursday across the four-line highway. “Compared to the workers suffering in the factory with the water cut off, holding a sit-in out here is nothing,” said Lee Kang-shil, president of Jinbo Corea.

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