Prosecutors in Kia Motors' plant in Gwangju are investigating union officials for corruption in the hiring of contract workers. The final results of the investigation have yet to be announced, but what is known already is very shocking. Kia's union and everyone working in the labor movement need to reflect deeply on what has happened.
Kia's union needs to take the initiative and begin by revealing the truth of what transpired. This case shows you how the ethical standards of officials at some unions have gone as low as they can go. If the union at Kia is going to have a hard time going about its own investigation, then the umbrella union to which it belongs should do an inquiry and apologize to the people. Even without this there has already been increased criticism in society towards the labor movement, with accusations about the existence of an "aristocracy" within its ranks. If the movement doesn't take this matter seriously and writes it off as an exceptional misdeed by a single union official, then the movement as a whole will suffer a serious blow.
We recommend that union officials now take the time to think about what they are aiming for. It is also time for serious thought about how far their everyday lives have deviated from those aims. Nowadays it is hard for any social movement win the people's favor without ethical foundations. That goes without saying for the labor movement, which is supposed to promote the interests of workers, the economically weak.
There needs to be a review of unions' internal checks and supervisory provisions. Rumors about irregularities in hiring at Kia's Gwangju factory started circulating in the local community starting in the second half of 2004. The union didn't do anything, and this is what things have come to. Put simply, the union had failed to keep itself in order. Organizations that cannot correct their own mistakes do not last.
Kia was also in the wrong in this case. Only the company has the authority to make hiring decisions. There is no way the company could have been ignorant of the corruption on the part of officials at its union. The only conclusion you can make is that the company was trying to sweeten up the union in order to harness it. We call on Kia, too, to engage in honest management.
The Hankyoreh, 22 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Corruption in Hiring at Kia; Union Needs Renewal |
