On October 17, Ju-ik Kim , a 40-year old father of two young children and worker leader, hung himself to death with nylon string tied to a pole of the cockpit of the crane in his workplace, Hanjin Heavy Industry Company in Busan city, South Korea .
He is just one of five workers who have killed themselves in an attempt to get their employers and the government to stop the repression of trade unionists and to withdraw damages claims against unions and individual members. So far 46 trade unions have been sued for damages amount to US$118 million. Another worker is close to death after attempting to burn himself to death.
Korean labour law limits workers’ rights to legal collective action. So almost any action is considered ‘illegal’.
On top of this, Korean civil law allows companies (and government-owned companies) to sue individuals who have committed ‘illegal acts’. This has resulted in unions and individual union members being sued for damages as a result of strike action. In some cases individuals have had their property provisionally seized.
At Kim ‘s company, Hanjin Heavy Industry, the company had claimed damages of more than US$330 000 (R2.3million) and had provisionally seized property worth more than US$600 000 (R4.2million).
Meanwhile the International Metalworkers’ Federation (IMF) has vowed to file a complaint at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) against the country’s legal system “which is used by employers to repress the workers’ right to legal collective action”.
In further action to highlight their demands, close to 150 000 members of the Korean Metalworkers Federation and public sector workers staged a general strike on November 12.