KFTU Declared ``Labor Strike on 12th``

Dan Byong-Ho, the Chairman of the Korea Federation of Trade Union (KFTU), announced `an all-out strife` yesterday that the unions who failed to come to an agreement in their wage negotiations would rush headlong into a joint strike from June 12.

The KFTU told that this strike aims to support the wage negotiations of individual unions, to block the restructuring centered on the lay-off, to abolish the discrimination to the temporary workers, and to achieve the passage of the motherhood protection law and a 5-working day system in the National Assembly.

And concerning that the business sector urged the government to commit the police to the companies in which the labor struggles occurred, such as Ulsan Hyosung and Chonnam Yeocheon NCC, etc., the KFTU declared that if the police is mobilized, the KFTU will cope sturdily by filing a complaint to the International Labor Organization.

The KFTU plans to hold large outdoor rallies in front of the National Assembly and Seoul Station, and to carry out the vote for the strike in the200 companies who submitted the application for the dispute settlement.

An official of Ministry of Labor anticipated that ``The participation in the strike would be small because of the continued economic slump. But there is the possibility of the strike in the Korean Air, the National Insurance Corporation, and some hospitals.``

Meanwhile, the nine officials of the KFTU including Chairman Dan visited Lee Man-Seop, the president of the National Assembly, to demand to pass the public welfare laws such as the motherhood protection law, and held a `sit-down strike` occupying the President Lee`s office on 30th. They were dismissed by the officers of the National Assembly on yesterday.

Kim Joon-Seok kjs359@donga.com