Thursday, the leaders of the striking union at the Ssangyong factory have reopened talks with the management on ending the strike. This is probably going to be the last time the two sides will talk before courts might liquidate the company completely in mid August. So far the management has offered to cut back on layoffs and reassign some people to other jobs, rehire most of the workforce by 2012 slowly and help find jobs for other works. The Union has refused and has demanded that the company send 2/3rd on "unpaid leave" so that they will face lesser job cuts. Either way, the Union has seem to have won some major victories for the workers (when originally around 900 were being laidoff). How far they will take it is up to them.
In other news, the Ministry of Education is planning to sack 89 teachers, including the leader Korean Teachers and Education Union (KTU) Jung Jin-hoo, for their collective action in signing a joint declaration against government policies on July 19th. There are strict laws against civil servants from doing collective actions in Korea and this is just an example of this. It doesn't help that KTU is well known as one of the most militant and left wing unions south of the 38th parallel.
Finally, the courts in Seoul have told the police that they cannot hold Choi Sang-jae, leader National Union of Media Workers, anymore. Choi was arrested earlier this week for illegal strikes and trying to break into the National Assembly. The court ruled that there was no risk for him fleeing the area or destroying evidence, so there was no need to hold him captive any longer.
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