Landmark labor-management compromise after 1,895-day strike

Posted on : 2010-11-02 16:12 KST Modified on : 2010-11-02 16:12 KST
The agreement marks the first time a union has secured full-time positions for irregular workers after a protracted struggle
 head of the Kiryung Electronics branch of the Korean Metal Workers‘ Union
head of the Kiryung Electronics branch of the Korean Metal Workers‘ Union

By Jeon Jong-hwi

  

Company and labor union alike said, “We have been down a long road.” The conflict that began in 2005 when the company unilaterally nullified the contracts of in-house subcontracted irregular female workers did not appear likely to end completely despite the fact that five years went by. Amid the strikes, disciplinary measures, lawsuits and complaints, sit-down strikes, lockouts, and hunger strikes, Kiryung Electronics became a symbol of the protracted struggle by irregular workers.

Finally, the company and union, each of which previously seemed to have the solitary goal of not being swayed by the other side, sat down at the table and brought an end to the five year, two month conflict.

After signing an agreement on Monday at the restaurant for guests in the National Assembly, Seoul, Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) Chairman Park Yu-gi and Kiryung CEO Choi Dong-yeol announced a complete resolution to the Kiryung situation. The agreement came 1,895 days after the union launched a full strike on Aug. 24, 2005.

In the agreement, the company promised to hire the ten remaining union members of the Kiryung Electronics into regular full-time positions. Both sides also agreed to withdraw any and all civil and criminal lawsuits filed and not to engage in any vilification, sit-down strikes and assemblies in the future. Following this, the labor union ended its sit-down strike the same day.

During a press conference Monday, Choi said, “We have all gone through a great deal of suffering over the past six years, and there remain a number of wounds from all the clawing at one another, but this agreement was reached based on social unity and a win-win situation for labor and management.”

Park said, “I hope we can let bygones be bygones and trust one another.”

Kiryung Electronics chapter of KMWU head Kim So-yeon, who led the union’s struggle, said, “Right now, I want to go back and start working hard, and I hope labor and management can work together to create a workplace of enthusiasm and mutual respect.”

The agreement is highly significant, since the company agreed to directly hire the dismissed irregular workers into permanent positions, a first for a Korean workplace that has faced a protracted irregular workers’ battle.

Many in the labor sector are calling the agreement a victory for the union and expect it to have a positive impact on other workplaces facing long-term battles, including Donghee Auto.

The agreement was made possible when both sides backed off in the final stages. After the company dropped its insistence on the impossibility of directly employing the workers, the union agreed to postpone the time of hiring for one year and sixth months, given the fact that all production equipment is being moved abroad and the company’s financial situation has been not good recently.

In exchange, the company reportedly agreed to pay living wages until the time of hire, as well as a portion of the wages not received since the workers’ dismissal through a reconciliation and cooperation fund.

In a statement issued the same day, the MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society labor committee said, “We urge the government to use the situation as an occasion to withdraw its regressive employment strategy of seeking to expand the range of employee dispatch businesses and relaxing restrictions on the employment period for fixed-term workers.”

  

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