Metal workers stay on strike for wages, security

Ten thousand metalworkers staged an indefinite partial strike yesterday in an attempt to gain collective bargaining power as an umbrella union of the country’s metal industry.
The Korean Metal Workers’ Union, or KMWU, said it began a six-hour work stoppage at 10 a.m. yesterday with some 87,000 members from 17 branch unions participating.
The union held walkouts lasting from two to four hours from Wednesday to Friday.
The Labor Ministry estimated the number of participants at around 10,000 with unions of four automakers ― Hyundai Motor, its affiliate Kia Motors, GM Daewoo and Ssangyong Motor ― expected not to participate because of separate negotiations with their companies.
The union members account for about 60 percent of the 143,000-member KMWU. The unions of Hyundai and Ssangyong have not joined the strike since it started.
Besides the demand for collective bargaining power, the KMWU has urged the management to ensure fair trade with subcontractors, job security of workers and a minimum wage of 936,320 won ($1,018) per month for metalworkers.
The union staged a week-long nationwide protest in late June against a free trade agreement between Korea and the United States amid mounting public criticism that the walkout was only politically motivated.
Police are seeking to arrest 15 union leaders with court-issued warrants on charges of organizing an illegal strike. Yonhap