[Kiryung Update]Text Fwd: Landmark labor-management compromise after 1,895-day strike [기륭 엎데이트] 1895일 파업 만에 이정표가 된 노동 관리 협상

* Image & caption source: same as the link

Kim So-yeon, head of the Kiryung Electronics branch of the Korean Metal Workers‘ Union, sheds tears while talking about their fight against the management at the site of a sit-in demonstration in a Kiryung Electronics factory after an end to the 5-year struggle, Nov. 1. (Photo by Kim Myung-jin)

Hankyoreh
Landmark labor-management compromise after 1,895-day strike
: The agreement marks the first time a union has secured full-time positions for irregular workers after a protracted struggle
Nov. 2, 2010
By Jeon Jong-hwi

Company and labor union alike said, “We have been down a long road.” The conflict that began in 2005 when the company unilaterally nullified the contracts of in-house subcontracted irregular female workers did not appear likely to end completely despite the fact that five years went by. Amid the strikes, disciplinary measures, lawsuits and complaints, sit-down strikes, lockouts, and hunger strikes, Kiryung Electronics became a symbol of the protracted struggle by irregular workers.

Finally, the company and union, each of which previously seemed to have the solitary goal of not being swayed by the other side, sat down at the table and brought an end to the five year, two month conflict.

[..]

The agreement is highly significant, since the company agreed to directly hire the dismissed irregular workers into permanent positions, a first for a Korean workplace that has faced a protracted irregular workers’ battle.

Many in the labor sector are calling the agreement a victory for the union and expect it to have a positive impact on other workplaces facing long-term battles, including Donghee Auto.

[..]

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