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| Three former employees of Ssangyong Motor, including Han Sang-kyun, ex-leader of the automaker's labor union, hold a sit-in on a 50-meter electrical supply tower near the company's plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. / Yonhap |
By Na Jeong-ju
Going on hunger strike has long been a common way for unionists to vent their anger toward management. However, other methods of last extreme protest are now being adopted, some arguably more dangerous and extreme ― recently, a number of frustrated people on strike have climbed steel-frame cranes and refused to come down until their demands are met.
Sit-in protests atop cranes are being widely adopted by unionists after Kim Jin-suk, a female labor activist spent 309 days atop a 50-meter-high crane in the shipyard of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction last year, demanding that laid-off co-workers be rehired. It was the longest such protest in Korea.
On Tuesday, three former employees of Ssangyong Motor tied themselves to a power transmission tower near the automaker's plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, after climbing up it. They said they won't come down until the firm rehires dismissed workers.
In 2009, some 2,500 workers were forced to quit Ssangyong or take unpaid leaves amid growing debts on condition that it would rehire some of them if its financial condition improves.
However, many of the workers remain unemployed. Since the layoff, 23 have died ― some of diseases and others committed suicide. The former Ssangyong workers have staged a sit-in inside a tent set up in front of Seoul City Hall since April.
"Some of them have taken extreme measures to show their anger and frustration. It's largely due to a lack of dialogue between the dismissed workers and management," said Choi Young-ki, a researcher from the Gyeonggi Research Institute. "In the case of Ssangyong, there have only been struggles between the former employees and management. There has been no meaningful dialogue or negotiations."
In September, the National Assembly held a hearing on the dispute, but no progress has been made since. The main opposition Democratic United Party called for a parliamentary probe, but its demand was rejected by the ruling Saenuri Party.
The firm said in a press release that it is drawing up measures to get the 450 workers taking unpaid leaves to return to work.
Protests atop towers are being held at three other firms.
Two workers from a Hyundai Motor's subcontracting firm climbed a tower in front of the automaker's manufacturing plant in Ulsan on Oct. 17, demanding fair treatment for subcontract workers. They vowed not to descend until the automaker increases payments for the subcontract workers.
Two drivers laid off by a bus firm in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, have also staged protests atop an iron tower on the roof of Dongducheon City Hall since Nov. 11. They claimed the layoff was illegal, and that they should be reinstated.
In addition, two workers from a timber mill in Pyeongtaek are atop a tower, demanding that their employer reduce working hours and improve benefits for workers.
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