"1.1 Million Union Members Participate" KCTU Declares General Strike

Abolition of Irregular Employment and Strengthening Publicness Set as Goals for General Strike

Acting Chairman Yoon Taek-geun (center) of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and other officials are holding the '10.20 KCTU General Strike Declaration Press Conference' on the 7th at the KCTU in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has declared a general strike scheduled for the 20th, aiming for the participation of 1.1 million union members nationwide.

Yoon Taek-geun, Acting Chairman of the KCTU, stated at a press conference announcing the general strike on the 7th at the KCTU office in Jung-gu, Seoul, "The government led the arrest of Chairman Yang Kyung-soo under the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and took the lead in trying to crush the KCTU," adding, "We will proceed with the general strike to talk about and demand attention to the livelihood issues, economic collapse, and job problems that the government has ignored." He also officially proposed to Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, "Let us discuss the conflict between the constitutional fundamental rights and the quarantine law."

The KCTU has set three main goals for this general strike: ▲abolition of irregular employment and comprehensive revision of labor laws ▲just industrial transition and national job security ▲strengthening public services in housing, medical care, education, care, and transportation. Ahead of the KCTU general strike on the 20th of this month, affiliated organizations have successively declared their participation. Previously, KCTU public sector irregular workers' unions announced that "200,000 public sector irregular workers will participate in the general strike." The KCTU Busan Headquarters also declared that about 66,000 union members will join the strike.

Yang Kyung-soo, KCTU Chairman who was arrested on charges of leading illegal assemblies, encouraged all union members to participate in the general strike. In a "letter from prison" released on the KCTU Facebook page the day before, Chairman Yang said, "The general strike is our most powerful weapon," and "We must fight under the banner of the general strike to break down the fortress-like barriers of inequality." He criticized, "Institutionalized and hereditary inequality has reached an unbearable level," and "The political power that should correct this is mired in vested interest struggles, ignoring the lives of workers and the people."

The police have decided to respond by mobilizing maximum available personnel and equipment. A National Police Agency official said, "Under the level 4 social distancing in the metropolitan area, even constitutionally guaranteed rights to assembly and demonstration cannot be exercised," adding, "We will strictly respond by blocking gatherings that may violate the Assembly and Demonstration Act and the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act." Employment Minister Ahn Kyung-deok said, "Regarding the KCTU, which has announced the general strike, the purpose of the strike is not justified under the Trade Union Act." Business and self-employed groups have also expressed concerns that the KCTU general strike will negatively affect labor-management relations and the real economy.

Although the KCTU stated that this strike would be the largest since the 1987 Great Workers' Struggle, there are also forecasts that the scale of this strike will not be large. This is because the KCTU has announced large-scale general strikes every year, but due to a lack of momentum, the strike method has repeatedly involved only executives or full-time union officials at workplaces. The contraction of household income due to COVID-19 also supports the view that the general strike will be difficult to expand on a large scale. A labor sector official said, "I do not expect work stoppages due to the KCTU general strike to actually occur at workplaces."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.