The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU, Minju Nochong) is facing a thorough crisis. It had to adjourn a meeting set to discuss "social negotiation" strategy for lack of a quorum, and then there was an outbreak of violence in that process. The situation goes even beyond KCTU's internal discord. Negative public opinion of the umbrella organization will become even more intense, since the violence occured in the wake of Kia Motors' union's involvement in the corrupt hiring process at Kia's plant in Gwangju.
Now matter how important the question of whether to reengage the government at the Tripartite Commission may be for the future of KCTU, it is regrettable that there was violence in the course of discussing what to do. And it was not just a simple occupation of the stage, either; people shot water from the fire hose, chairs, and paint thinner in what was behavior that must not be excused, no matter what some might say. Clearly most of the country was distressed and even disappointed to see the violence on television.
The problem is that it does not look like the conflict over the issue will be healed easily. If a debate erupts over was responsible for the violence, the situation might become even more serious. The chairman Yi Su Ho even threatened to resign as he tried to get a vote on the matter but the meeting was still adjourned. That injury to his leadership could make it difficult to resolve the discord.
What KCTU's leadership and voting representatives need to remember right now, however, is that if the organization loses strength as the result of the internal discord the strict fact of the matter is that the effects won't be limited to its membership. The government and ruling party are saying they will move ahead with the new legislation on irregular workers, something KCTU has opposed, and the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) is going further, saying it wants to see conditions that must be met for companies to engage in layoffs be eased. It would be worth noticing how both parties moved to speak with the same voice in criticizing the violence. It is exactly why both sides in the discord need to minimize the aftermath and work on unity.
The Hankyoreh, 3 February 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] KCTU Must Recover From Aftermath of Violence |
