'Company hired security staff to attack unionists'

By Yi Whan-woo

The police face mounting criticism for allegedly ignoring an assault on unionists by “security staff” hired by an automotive component manufacturer while they were protesting against the firm’s lockout in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

The union of car part producer SJM filed a complaint with the prosecution Monday to call for a thorough investigation into the case.

One hundred and fifty plant workers of SJM were attacked early Friday morning when they were staging a protest in front of the firm’s main office. According to the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU), about 200 people from a “security firm,” hired by the company, entered the area.

Wearing helmets and protective gear, they wielded clubs and shields, sprayed fire extinguishers, and threw pieces of metal to force the unionists out of the plant. Thirty-four workers suffered injuries, including 10 who were inside a building and jumped out of windows to escape the attackers, the KMWU said.

“We’re confident that SJM hired the people and is deeply involved in the case,” it said in a statement. “We also denounce the police for ignoring the case although they knew about the violence in advance. It’s obviously negligence of duty, and we hereby believe both the firm and police should be investigated.”

The KMWU said that an SJM unionist called the 112 Emergency Call Center for help at 4:30 a.m. when the hired security staff intruded and assaulted the workers. It added that the riot police only arrived on the scene at 5:30 a.m. and remained outside the plant without taking action to prevent the violence.

“We believe there must have been a dirty connection between the SJM employer and the police in advance,” a unionist said.

Police dismissed their allegations, saying everything was already under control when they arrived at the scene an hour after receiving the report.

“There wasn’t much for us to do when we got there. That’s why we waited outside the plant,” a riot police officer said.

According to unionists, however, the security staff remained on the scene until 6:40 a.m., some of them threatening to kill the workers.

The KMWU said similar cases also occurred on Friday at the plant of Mando, one of the country’s largest car components manufacturers. Both the SJM and Mando workers have been protesting against lockouts by their firms.

The police have often been criticized for an alleged lack of effort to prevent violence between unionists and muscle hired by companies.

In January 2009, police were criticized for remaining mum on an attack to evict tenants in Yongsan, central Seoul. Demolition “workers” forced the tenants to move out of the shopping district which the city planned to redevelop. Police were blamed for the crackdown on the tenants who were staging a sit-in protest against the redevelopment project on the rooftop of a building that was set ablaze. Five tenants and a police officer were killed in the clash.