INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS (ICFTU) ICFTU ONLINE...
Brussels, January 6 1997 (ICFTU OnLine): The Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has warned Korea's President Kim Young-sam that arrest of trade union leaders would spark off a major international trade union campaign targeted on Korea's international diplomatic and economic links.
The ICFTU fears that the summon orders issued by state prosecutors to leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) may be aimed at arresting them in order to stifle the strike movement which has erupted in Korea following the adoption by parliament of unfair legislation.
The ICFTU which has denounced the new legislation in a formal complaint to the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO) is now planning to send a delegation to the country in conjunction with the Paris-based Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (Tuac) and International Trade Secretariats (ITS). Both the ICFTU and Tuac consider the Korean legislation is a step backwards and is at variance with the solemn commitment by Korea to put its labour laws into conformity with ILO Conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.
"While continuing to deny workers' rights to join and form trade unions of their own choosing ib bith the public and private sectors and restricting trade union solidarity action, the law gives a freehand to Korean employers to dismiss workers and exploit them", says ICFTU General Secretary Bill Jordan.
The ICFTU and Tuac which have expressed support for action taken by the KCTU and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) have called on President Kim Young-sam to abrogate the law and open negotiations with representatives of the Korean labour movement. "We are now mobilising our national affiliates as well as International Trade Secretariats (ICFTU-associated international industry federations), in order to be able to respond swiftly to any move by the Korean government to resort to reprisals against Korean trade union and workers who are waging a legitimate fight." Mr Jordan said.
More than 150,000 Korean workers have responded to the KCTU call for strike on Monday 6 and the confederation says industrial action could esacalate unless President Kim Young-sam announced a repeal of the new law at a news conference scheduled for Tuesday. The FKTU will be organising a mass rally on January 10 and has threatened to resume strike action by January 11 if trade union demands were not met.
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