40,000 to go on strike Friday

By Kim Bo-eun

Around 30,000 to 40,000 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) will stage a walkout, Friday.

The union members, ranging from irregular workers in the public sector, from cleaners to construction workers, will call for the minimum wage to be raised to 10,000 won ($8.8) and for irregular positions to be abolished in a rally at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.

Sixteen organizations affiliated with the KCTU including the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union and Civil Servant Union will hold rallies in locations in Seoul from noon, before gathering at the main event at Gwanghwamun at 3 p.m.

“This strike is designed to call for an improved minimum wage, better working conditions and basic labor rights,” Choi Jong-jin, acting chief of the umbrella union, said in a press conference, Wednesday.

Irregular school workers will hold the second day of their two-day strike today.

The KCTU will hold another rally on July 8, at Gwanghwamun Square, demanding the minimum wage be raised to 10,000 won and for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to be withdrawn. It will also call for the release of its chief Han Sang-kyun, who has been jailed for orchestrating a massive anti-government rally in 2015.

In addition, they will raise the issue of the death of Baek Nam-ki, a farmer who died in a 2015 rally after being hit by police water cannon, asking for the punishment of those responsible. They will also demand the nullification of the sex slavery deal reached with Japan in December 2015.

In response, the Korea Employers’ Federation said in a statement, “A job committee has been launched and has begun ongoing negotiations to decide on the minimum wage. Given this, the KCTU strike can only be seen as sticking to old practices by pushing unilateral demands through force.”