8/9/2023 0 Comments Kctu general strikeOver 27,000 workers descended upon the busy downtown intersection in front of the Seodaemun Subway Station. The center of gravity of the general strike, however, was clearly in Seoul. Around 80,000 workers from around the country participated in rallies. In Daegu, the third biggest city in the country, 5,000 joined the rally, while in Busan, the second largest city, an estimated 10,000 people participated in the strike. In Choenan, a transportation hub, 2,000 workers protested. In Gwangju, home of the Gwangju uprising of 1980, 3,000 people gathered in front of the City Hall. In smaller cities, the participants were in the thousands. In the end, it is estimated that 80,000 workers from around the country participated in rallies. Those who work near Seoul, such as Incheon or around the Gyeonggi province, were asked to gather in the capital for a large show of force. Members were asked to walk out of their jobs starting at 2pm. The KCTU mobilized for the strike through its 14 headquarters across the country. In a nutshell, the general strike reflects the increasingly direct confrontation between the capitalist class and the working class. The remaining union leadership subsequently called for a general strike today in response. On September 2 this year, the state raided the KCTU’s headquarters and arrested Yang on charges of violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act and the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, as well as traffic disruption. The state then responded to this with direct repression. Since taking leadership, Yang has taken a more militant approach towards the state through organizing workers’ protests and rallies in defiance of the state’s arbitrary, ever-changing, and highly undemocratic restrictions on public assembly in the name of controlling the pandemic. Many see Yang as coming from a younger, more radical generation of workers. Notably, Yang is the first KCTU president who is also a temporary worker, one of over 41% of Korean workforce toiling in casualized jobs. In December 2020, the KCTU members voted out the previous president, who had attempted to collaborate with the government and the capitalists, and replaced them with Yang Kyung-soo, who promised to struggle for workers’ interests by building for a general strike. The accumulated frustration among organized workers has led to the radicalization of the KCTU from below. While the South Korean government’s handling of the pandemic has been lauded internationally, the workers continue to toil under abhorrent conditions. The KCTU called this nationwide strike in order to demonstrate the deep anger that exists among Korean workers towards the whole capitalist establishment and all the political parties. Metal workers, construction workers, non-regular school workers, along with service and medical workers and others stood shoulder to shoulder in their workplaces and on the streets. The workers who participated in the strike were drawn from all industries under the KCTU umbrella. A further 50,000 workers also walked off their jobs at 2pm. On October 20, over 80,000 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) answered the leadership’s call to take to the streets across 14 regions of South Korea.
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