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DESCRIPTION:1/17 Soldiarity Rally For Korean Railway Workers Union KRWU Against Union 
 Busting And Privatization Of 
 KORAIL\nhttp://www.transportworkers.org/node/1029\nFriday January 17, 2014 
 4:00 PM\nKorean Consulate\n3500 Clay St./Laurel St. San Francisco\nIn early 
 December 2013 over 4,000 Korean railway workers of KORAIL went on strike to 
 stop privatization. The Park government suspended the railway workers and 
 sough to arrest the leaders. They also raided the offices of he Korean 
 Confederation of Trade Unions KCTU and arrested 137 trade unionists.\nOn 
 December 31, the KRWU railroad workers returned to work with a promise that 
 there would be a government legislative investigation about the 
 privatization of the public railways. At the same time the government 
 continues to seek the arrest of the union leaders and is also preparing to 
 sue the striking union members personally.\nThe KCTU has called for general 
 strikes against this union busting, privatization and for the resignation 
 of the Kim government on January 9 and January 18. The Korean government is 
 also attacking the right of public teachers and public workers from even 
 organizing a union. The US government with the Korea US Free Trade 
 Agreement KORUS is also seeking to privatize the public industries and also 
 deregulate the economy. The Trans Pacific Partnership TPP is also being 
 pushed by the Obama administration to allow the multi-nationals and banks 
 to buy up Korea and other countries in Asia along with a new militarization 
 including the construction of a military naval base on JeJu Island in 
 Korea.\nNorthern California trade unionists, labor activists and human 
 rights activists will be rallying in solidarity with\nthe Korean railway 
 workers to demand. American working people demand Hands Off The Korean 
 Workers. This action will co-incide with the KCTU called general strike. 
 Bring your union banners and placards.\nStop Repression and Arrests of 
 Korean Railway Trade Unionists\nStop KORAIL Privatization and Down With the 
 Kim Government\nSupport The KCTU-KRWU General Strikes\nStop The US-Korea 
 Remilitarization and JeJu Naval Base\nDown With The Kim 
 Government\nThursday January 17, 2013 4:00 PM\nKorean Consulate\n3500 Clay 
 St./Laurel St.\nSan Francisco\nInitiated by The Transport Workers 
 Solidarity Committee, Endorsed by United Public Workers For Action 
 www.upwa.info,\nTransport Workers Solidarity 
 Committeewww.transportworkers.org, Answer Bay Area, Labor Video Project, 
 Facts For Working People,\nWorkers World, Peace And Freedom Party San 
 Francisco\nKorea KCTU General Strike 12/16/203 
 Video\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h4kfRGuapY#t=1518239\nKorea Korail 
 bosses seeking to stick union with the bill for strike-related 
 losses\nhttp://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/618234.html\nPosted 
 on : Jan.3,2014 15:09 KST\n\n프린트\nMembers of the Korean Confederation 
 of Trade Unions chant slogans while wearing headbands at a rally in front 
 of the statue of deceased labor activist Jeon Tae-il along the Cheonggye 
 Stream in Seoul‘s Jongno district, Jan. 2. The KCTU leadership started an 
 indefinite hunger strike on this day. (by Kim Jeong-hyo, staff 
 photographer)\nIssue of who must pay for hiring replacement workers will 
 hinge on whether or not the strike is deemed legal\nBy Im In-tack, staff 
 reporter\nKorail plans to demand labor union payment for the costs of 
 employing substitute workers during a recent Korean Railway Workers’ 
 Union (KRWU) strike. The move is being called an irrational attempt by the 
 government and a public enterprise to make the union pay for personnel 
 decisions and costs. Korail and the government have claimed that hiring is 
 their “exclusive managerial prerogative”.\nSpeaking in a telephone 
 interview on Jan. 2, a Korail source said on condition of anonymity that 
 Korail “plans to demand the union pay hiring and personnel costs” for 
 208 substitute workers who were hired during the strike and are currently 
 undergoing standard training.\nOn Dec. 31, Korail filed suit with Seoul 
 Seobu District Court to demand damages from the union and its members, 
 claiming 15.2 billion won (US$14.5 million) in operating losses due to the 
 strike.\n“The 15.2 billion won for the substitute workers wasn’t 
 included [in the claim],” said the source. “Once they’ve finished 
 calculating, they plan to change the bill of indictment to demand 
 more.”\nThe news prompted an immediate outcry from the KRWU. The argument 
 was that if damages are granted, the union will end up paying out of its 
 own coffers for the company to hire and train 208 scabs.\nPrevious 
 “public enterprise normalization measures” ordered by the government, 
 which has stressed the enterprises’ exclusive rights of hiring and 
 management, were designed to amend collective wage bargaining provisions 
 that allowed the unions to interfere.\nKorail has relied on the military, 
 private groups, and the Korea National University of Transportation to 
 supply substitute workers during past strikes, but the December strike was 
 the first time it had gone to the extent of officially recruiting and 
 hiring replacement workers. The plan was an apparent attempt to push the 
 union into calling off the strike.\nInflation of claim totals has been 
 another running issue. In 2003, courts granted just 3.2 billion won (US$3.0 
 million) of a 7.5 billion won (US$7.1 million) claim for strike-related 
 damages. A similar case in 2006 had only 7 billion won (US$6.7 million) of 
 the 15 billion won (US$14.3 million) claim recognized.\nIn the case of a 
 2009 strike, the corporation initially demanded 9.7 billion won (US$9.2 
 million), but later lowered the figure to 4,855 million won (US$4.6 
 million) after subtracting unproven losses and wage payments to striking 
 union members. That trial is still ongoing.\nThe legality of the strike is 
 another point of contention. The Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment 
 Act states that for legal strikes, new employees cannot be hired to perform 
 the duties and damages cannot be claimed for strike-related losses.\nAngry 
 Union Workers Swarm Seoul’s Streets, Demand President 
 Resign\nhttp://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/16060/angry_workers_swarm_seouls_s...\nSATURDAY 
 JAN 4, 2014 1:11 PM\nAngry Workers Swarm Seoul’s Streets, Demand 
 President Resign\nBY MICHELLE CHEN\nSome 15,000 union rail workers rally at 
 Seoul Railway Station on Dec. 14, 2013 to protest a government plan that 
 could partially privatize its high-speed train services. (Woohae 
 Cho/AFP/Getty Images)\nSouth Korea may best be known for slick electronics 
 and saccharine pop tunes, but less of that stereotypical effervescence was 
 present in Seoul in December. Instead, the streets were filled with throngs 
 of angry union workers, facing down riot police in a show of defiance 
 against a government plan that they say would lead to layoffs and 
 privatization.\nOn December 28, workers staged a one-day general strike 
 that capped about three weeks of intense smaller protests involving 
 thousands of workers and activists and causing sharp service reductions. 
 The establishment of a parliamentary committee to resolve the railway 
 dispute has paused the demonstrations for now. But unions, who see the 
 fight as a broader labor struggle beyond the rail issue, are not giving up 
 and have vowed to keep protesting. On Friday, theydemanded the president's 
 resignation.\nIn recent months, the government has proposed subdividing and 
 commercializing the national railway, Korail—supposedly a cost-saving 
 measure to deal with the railway’s debt burden and financial losses. 
 Recently, tensions escalated when the government announced plans to split 
 Korail services into separate segments and to create a subsidiary to run 
 part of the high-speed rail service under a separate corporation, which 
 would purportedly stay primarily state-controlled.\nLabor activists suspect 
 the claims of financial concerns mask the government’s underlying aim to 
 incrementally privatize the vital public institution, in turn triggering 
 job losses and pay cuts. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) 
 and the Korean Railway Workers’ Union (KRWU) have also argued President 
 Park Guenhye’s administration pushed through the plan without adequate 
 public or opposition consultation. In response to the government's railway 
 proposal, rail union workers voted to go on strike on November 22, 
 launching a wave of public rallies and pickets that grew to flood the 
 streets of downtown Seoul. In mid-December, after the Prime Minister 
 declared the strike "illegal," police began clamping down on union 
 leadershipby issuing arrest warrants and confiscating equipment and 
 documents from several local union offices.\nWhen police then moved on to 
 targeting the headquarters of the umbrella labor organization KCTU, which 
 represents a multi-sector membership of more than 690,000 workers, union 
 activists struck back. Eric Lee of LabourStart reported at OpenSecurity 
 that the activists “formed a defensive cordon but eventually riot police 
 charged the building, smashing down glass doors and firing pepper gas, 
 causing several injuries. There were reports that some of the trade 
 unionists responded with improvised water cannons.”\nAfter the blockade 
 of the KCTU building resulted in 138 arrests of protesters, as Lee put it, 
 “An enraged KCTU leadership issued a call for a million-worker strong 
 general strike." Internationally, meanwhile, labor activists garnered about 
 14,500 signatures online on astatement of solidarity.\nFor union advocates, 
 the key goal of the protests now going forward is not to push one 
 particular alternative plan for the railway overhaul, but simply to ensure 
 an accountable decision-making process. On the eve of the general strike 
 day, Wol-san Liem, International Affairs director for the Korean Federation 
 of Public Services and Transportation Workers' Unions (KPTU), which, like 
 the KRWU is part of the KCTU, told Working In These Times, "We're just 
 saying: Halt what you're doing now, so we can have a real debate where all 
 of the parties involved—the workers, the employer, the government and the 
 traveling public—can have their voices heard, put forth their 
 proposals” and then develop a plan through deliberations before seeking 
 the review of the National Assembly. Though the new parliamentary committee 
 may pave the way for such debates, more union actions are planned to keep 
 the focus on broader issues of labor equity and government 
 accountability.\nThis isn’t the first time militant union campaigns in 
 South Korea have clashed with the government. Last January, KCTU issued 
 several demands for the incoming Park administration, calling for the 
 reinstatement of union members allegedly fired in retaliation for 
 organizing and demanding “enforcement actions against anti-union 
 retaliation by employers and the establishment of company unions.” KCTU 
 has also criticized the widespread exploitation of “dispatch” 
 workers—temporary workers nominally hired by the company through 
 outsourcing, but who essentially do the same work for less pay, without the 
 job security of regular workers.\nThe unions got a legal boost last March 
 when the Supreme Court upheld a ruling against General Motors Daewoo, 
 declaring that subcontracted auto manufacturing work was actually illegal 
 dispatch work. The violation carried millions of dollars in fines for both 
 the employer and the subcontracted firm.\nOf course, sometimes bosses 
 don’t feel like heeding the courts or the unions. In 2012, after a court 
 found that Hyundai Motors had illegally misclassified a full-time employee 
 as a subcontractor, the company refused to reclassify him, instead hitting 
 back with its own lawsuits against several of its plants where protests had 
 broken out.\nAnd the government has taken to simply refusing to recognize 
 some troublesome unions. The Korean Government Employees Union staged a 
 sit-down strike last year before the National Assembly, after the 
 government repeatedly rebuffed its attempts to register as an official 
 union and fired more than 100 members, including the union’s president 
 and secretary general, alleging they were leaders of an “illegal” 
 organization. Similarly, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology 
 threatened in January 2013 to de-register the teachers union unless it 
 amended its bylaws to exclude from its membership retired and dismissed 
 teachers. When the union balked, it was decertified in late October, 
 despite protests from members and international labor activists.\nBeyond 
 Korail, the general strike was an explosion of long-brewing resentment from 
 many sectors of Korean civil society, particularly workers who feel left 
 behind by the country’s breakneck development and right-wing regime.\nNow 
 that the Korail issues has newly highlighted the government’s anti-union 
 activity and authoritarian tactics, Liem says, there has been a groundswell 
 of public solidarity from students and civil society groups. The protests 
 might even have the potential to bubble into a broader populist movement, 
 paralleling the anti-austerity campaigns that swelled in Europe in 
 2012.\n“There has always been, for the last several years, an alliance 
 between civil society and the labor movement, and that is continuing of 
 course, and I think it will get stronger,” Liem says. Though, like Occupy 
 Wall Street, the movement currently lacks a single agenda or formal 
 political leaders, she adds, “there is potential for that to become the 
 basis of something much larger and hopefully a political leadership will 
 emerge through that process.”\nKorea Supreme Court’s ruling thoroughly 
 bans civil servants’ political activities "Teachers and Educational 
 Workers’ Union and the Korea Government Employees’ Union tend to argue 
 that making political expressions and holding assembly constitutes freedom 
 of 
 expression"\nhttp://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2013122824328\nDECEMBER 
 28, 2013 05:59\nThe Supreme Court found the chairman and other leaders of 
 the Korea Government Employees’ Union guilty, saying that their 
 proclaiming of a national crisis with political purpose and holding a 
 national convention constitutes political activities banned for civil 
 servants. Last year, the Supreme Court also gave guilty verdict to teachers 
 with the Korea Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union, who made 
 proclamation of a crisis criticizing the government. The latest ruling goes 
 a step further to that ruling to effectively suggest that civil servants 
 are banned from even holding an assembly supporting such a proclamation, 
 and broadly recognizes the scope of political activities banned for civil 
 servants. The court thus sternly judges that proclaiming a national crisis 
 is a political act, and activities endorsing such a proclamation 
 constitutes political act as well.\nUnder the Constitution and the National 
 Civil Servant Act, civil servants are strictly obliged to keep political 
 neutrality. The defendants claimed, “The activities were justly conducted 
 by the civil servants’ union,” but the Supreme Court said, “There is 
 a high chance that engaging in political activities could impair fairness 
 in official duty and damage the public’s trust,” in issuing the guilty 
 verdict. The court thus ruled that “Announcing a statement in support of 
 proclamation of a crisis by the teachers’ union against the government 
 with a specific political intent and holding a national convention is a 
 ‘collective act beyond the scope of civil servants’ official 
 duty.”\nMembers of the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union and the 
 Korea Government Employees’ Union tend to argue that making political 
 expressions and holding assembly constitutes freedom of expression, but 
 this is misguided understanding. When compared with ordinary citizens, 
 civil servants’ activities inevitably have bigger social impact. If one 
 wants to make political expressions freely, he or she could engage in such 
 activities after giving up the stature as civil servant.\nCivil servants 
 with the civil servants’ union and the teachers union, who make political 
 statements at the site of rail workers’ strike or participate in 
 assemblies to proclaim national crises, should take the latest ruling by 
 the Supreme Court very seriously.\nThe ban on civil servants’ political 
 activities is restriction but it also constitutes a protective measure as 
 well. During authoritarian rules, there were historical precedents that 
 those in political power unjustly mobilized and exploited civil servants. 
 Only when civil servants’ political neutrality is guaranteed, their rank 
 and status as civil servants can be protected from unjust pressure or 
 intervention from political power. Civil servants are service personnel who 
 serve the nation and the public, rather than political parties or 
 administrations.\nThe National Intelligence Service and the military cyber 
 command severely damaged the constitutional spirit of civil servants’ 
 political neutrality by uploading posts and Twitter messages, which are 
 suspected as constituting their intervention in the presidential election. 
 The civil servants’ union and the teachers’ union are also facing legal 
 actions for conducting illegal electioneering by using SNS, and are 
 undergoing prosecutorial investigation. The Supreme Court’s ruling should 
 serve as a watershed from which government employees solemnly keep in mind 
 the spirit of political neutrality as defined by the Constitution.\nKCTU On 
 SF Solidarity Action At Korean 
 Consulate\nhttp://nodong.org/korail2013_part2/6823717\n연대하라\n샌프란시스코 
 운수노동자 연대, 주샌프란시스코총영사관 앞 
 연대행동\n사회공공성본부조회:57	2014.01.07 15:02\n2013년 
 12월 27일 오후 12시, 미국 샌프란시스코 배이 지역 
 노동조합 활동가들이\n철도파업 탄압, 민주노총 12월 28일 
 총파업에 연대하는 행동을 전개했다.\n북캘리포니아 
 통합도시교통노조(ATU), 전미서비스노조(SEIU), 
 미국지방공무원노조(AFSCME) 소속\n조합원 20여명은 
 주샌프란시스코 한국 총영사관 앞에 모여\n"철도 민영화 
 중단하라" "구속 노동자 석방하라", "민주노총 총파업을 
 지지한다"\n등의 구호를 외치며 행동을 하고\n아래와 
 같은 서한을 영사관 측에 전달했다.\n<미국 
 운수노동자연대위원회가 한국정부에 보낸 
 서한>\n주샌프란시스코 총영사관 앞\n2013년 12월 
 27일\n운수노동자연대위원회는 전국철도노동조합과 
 전국민주노동조합총연맹에 연대하여 한국의 노동조합과 
 노동계급을 사수하기 위해 오늘 연대집회를 
 개최합니다.\n아래는 우리의 성명입니다.\n박근혜 
 대통령은 한국 노동자들의 노동기본권을 노골적으로 
 공격하여 철도노조 8,000여명 조합원들을 직위해제하고 
 지도부 여러명을 연행했다.\n압수수색영장도 없이 
 4,000명이 넘는 경찰을 동원해 민주노총 건물을 침탈했다. 
 코레일 사장은 500명의 대체인력을 고용함으로써 
 노동자들에게 전쟁을 선포했다.\n전국공공운수노조연맹 
 산하 철도노조 조합원들은, 철도노동자들의 고용을 
 위협할 뿐 아니라 시민들의 안전마저 위협할 철도 
 민영화에 반대해왔다. 한국정부는 철도노조만 탄압한 
 것이 아니라 전교조와 공무원노조의 단결권을 
 탄압해왔고, 노동자들이 파업을 하면 법적 댓가를 
 치르도록 하는 법을 지지했다. 이 때문에 많은 
 노동자들이 파산에 처하거나 스스로 목숨을 끊는 일도 
 있다.\n이러한 정부의 공격에 대해 전 세계 노동조합 
 그리고 엠네스티 인터내셔널, 국제노동기구, 여타 많은 
 단체들이 반대의 목소리를 냈다.\n한국정부는 
 미국정부의 요청에 환태평양경제동반자협정(TPP) 체결을 
 추진하고 있는데, 이 협정은 의료보험 민영화 및 
 한국경제의 탈규제화로 노동자 민중에게 악영향을 
 미치게 될 것이다. IMF나 세계은행이 추진하고 
 초국적기업이 지지하는 이러한 경제정책은 미국에서, 
 그리고 전 세계에서 노동자들의 사회보장 및 공공서비스 
 등을 축소했다.\n오늘날 북캘리포니아에 거주하는 
 통합도시교통노조(ATU), 전미서비스노조(SEIU), 
 미국지방공무원노조(AFSCME) 등 조합원인 운수노동자들은 
 탄압을 받고 있으며 샌프란시스코 만, 그리고 미국 
 전역에서 노동조합을 파괴하는 노조파괴 전문 업체들이 
 동원되고 있다. 베올리아 등 초국적기업은 더 많은 
 이윤을 위해 코레일을 매입할 것을 검토하고 있다. 이는 
 한국의 노동자 민중에게 해악만을 입힐 것이다.\n일본 
 국철민영화로 수천명이 해고 되었고 열차 파손, 
 철도노동자 및 승객의 사망과 같은 안전 사고가 
 증가했다. 일본 철도노조 중 하나인 
 치바현국철동력차노동조합은 일본 및 전 세계에서 
 일어나는 이러한 자본주의의 약탈에 맞서 앞장서서 
 투쟁해 왔다.\n오늘 우리는 민주노총, 공공운수노조연맹, 
 철도노조에 연대하여, 특히 민주노총의 2013년 12월 28일 
 총파업 선언에 연대하여 다음을 요구한다.\n- 구속 
 노동자를 즉각 석방하라\n- 8000명 철도노동자에 대한 
 직위해제를 중단하라\n- 철도 민영화를 중단하라\n- 
 박근혜 정부는 퇴진하라!\n- 북한과 중국을 위협하는 
 미군의 전초기지기 될 제주 해군기지 건설에 반대하는 
 투쟁과 연대한다!\n- 인간다운 삶과 안전한 노동조건을 
 지키기 위해 투쟁하는 한국 노동자들의 투쟁에 
 연대한다!\n- 민주적권리, 표현의 자유, 정치활동의 
 자유를 억압하는 국가보안법 철폐하라!\n우리는 한국의 
 노동자들의 투쟁이 승리하기를 응원한다. 오늘 행동을 
 통해 한국 노동자들이 혼자만의 싸움이 아니라는 것을 
 알리고자 한다. 한국 노동자들은 미국에서 자본주의 
 아래서 억압받으며 같은 이유로 투쟁하는 미국 
 노동자들과 연대해왔다.\nKorean Teachers’ union to keep official 
 status, at least 
 temporarily\nhttp://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/611167.html\nPosted 
 on : Nov.14,2013 15:34 KST\n•\n프린트\n• facebook27\n• 
 twitter7\n•\nKorea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) vice 
 president Kim Jeong-hoon presents a court ruling to senior vice-president 
 Lee Young-joo (right) suspending the government’s move to revoke the 
 union’s official status at KTU’s offices in Seoul’s Yeungdeungpo 
 district, Nov. 13. (by Kim Bong-gyu, staff photographer)\nCourt’s ruling 
 halts government’s anti-union policies for the moment, but final decision 
 on status still months away\nBy Lee Kyung-mi, staff reporter\nA court put a 
 halt to efforts by the government to revoke the official union status of 
 the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU).\nIn the view of 
 the court, the government action to revoke the union’s status may be a 
 violation of the law, and could have a negative influence on teaching in 
 the classroom.\nThe government made its decision because nine of the 
 KTU’s 60,000 members teachers that are currently unemployed. On Nov. 13, 
 the Seoul administrative court (division 13, Ban Jeong-woo presiding) 
 countermanded the government’s decision, ruling that the union will 
 retain its legal status for now.\nThe ruling came in a petition that the 
 KTU filed against the Ministry of Employment and Labor. “The ministry’s 
 decision may not be enforced until the lower court makes a ruling in the 
 lawsuit in question,” the court said.\nAs a result of the decision, the 
 KTU will maintain its current status, at least until decisions are made by 
 a lower court and the Constitutional Court in a lawsuit about the legality 
 of the ministry’s decision to revoke the KTU’s official union 
 status.\nThe ruling puts the breaks on the anti-union policies that began 
 early in the administration of President Park Geun-hye, at least for the 
 moment. It also shows that there was no solid legal foundation for the 
 administration’s concerted efforts to repress labor. The ruling suggests 
 that certain aspects of the administration’s actions were hasty and 
 ill-conceived\n■ Putting a halt to ideological anti-labor policies\nUntil 
 this ruling, nothing had stopped the government from taking action directed 
 against labor unions. There were indications that the government would 
 accept the notification of establishment submitted by the Korean Government 
 Employees’ Union (KGEU), which has more than 130,000 members, but this 
 was rejected in August.\nThe following month, the government declared that 
 the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) is not a legal 
 union, despite its 60,000 members.\nIn addition to this, government 
 prosecutors conducted a search and seizure operation on the offices of the 
 KGEU on Nov. 8, suspecting the union of interfering in last December’s 
 presidential election.\nThese are the reasons why experts believe this 
 injunction to be important. “The court put the brakes on government 
 efforts to turn back the clock by denying workers the right to organize,” 
 said Cho Don-mun, professor of sociology at the Catholic University of 
 Korea.\nYun Ae-rim, law professor at the Korea National Open University, 
 noted, “other than Korea, there are no OECD member countries that prevent 
 teachers from forming unions.”\n“Labor, management, and the government 
 came to an agreement in 1998 that recognized teachers’ right to organize, 
 but the government did not keep its word. This decision raises the alarm 
 about such government policies.”\nLabor activists argue that there is a 
 fundamental difference in the way that former president Lee Myung-bak and 
 current president Park Geun-hye oppress labor. While the Lee administration 
 carried out anti-union policies in the name of the economy, the current 
 administration puts forward ideology and politics as the reasons for these 
 policies.\nDuring the Lee administration, labor issues generally involved 
 conflicts between workers and employers. During the Park administration, 
 however, state institutions have led the attack challenging the very 
 foundations of labor unions.\n“This administration adopts a conservative 
 approach to policymaking, and it regards public servants and even teachers 
 as people who must be controlled and managed,” said Lee Byeong-hun, 
 professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University.\n“The type of labor 
 oppression carried out by this administration is different from the 
 previous one in the sense that its political decisions are ideologically 
 motivated.”\n“It’s fortunate that the court has put a halt to this 
 behavior, even if it is only temporary.”\n　\n■ All eyes on results of 
 main lawsuit and appeal to the Constitutional Court　\nAs Lee suggested, 
 the decision by the court merely buys time for the union. It will likely be 
 at least a couple of months before a ruling is made in the main lawsuit 
 that the KTU filed on Oct. 24 to reverse the ministry’s decision along 
 with its petition to suspend execution of the decision. If the KTU loses 
 that lawsuit, it would once again lose its official union 
 status.\nObservers are also interested in the results of the petition filed 
 with the Constitutional Court on Oct. 2. In the petition, the KTU took 
 issue with the sections of labor law, including Article 2 of the law about 
 teacher unions, which prevent dismissed teachers from joining 
 unions.\nThese sections, the union argued, violate the right of equality 
 and the right for workers to organize that are guaranteed in the 
 constitution. The KTU petition also made the case that Article 9 Clause 2 
 of the enforcement decree for the labor law is actually “a law above the 
 law” that lacks any legal basis.\nThe ruling by the Constitutional Court 
 will also determine the fate of the government employees union, which has 
 not yet received certification as a union for the same reason as the 
 teachers’ union.\n“Considering that we have not raised any other legal 
 questions, we are closely following the results of the KTU’s petition to 
 the Constitutional Court,” said KGEU spokesperson Jeong 
 Yong-cheon.\nAnother item of interest is how the Committee on Freedom of 
 Association, which is part of the International Labour Organization (ILO), 
 will deal with the lawsuit that the KTU has filed against the South Korean 
 government.\nWhile the court’s decision may have restored the KTU to its 
 former position for now, the union remains on alert. The union is 
 continuing work on a project to switch the method by which members pay 
 their dues. Formerly, dues were deducted from teachers’ salaries, but 
 under the new system they will be paid via bank transfer.\nThe KTU is also 
 planning to reinforce the organization’s power through elections for 
 chapter heads and representatives, which are scheduled for December.\n“We 
 will continue our fight against the systems and customs that conflict with 
 the true value of education, which we have worked to protect for the past 
 25 years,” said KTU spokesperson Ha Byeong-su.\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/01/10/18749008.php
SUMMARY:Soldiarity Rally For Korean Railway Workers Union KRWU Against Union Busting And Privatiza
LOCATION:Korean Consulate\n3500 Clay St/Laurel St\nSan Francisco
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/01/10/18749008.php
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DTEND:20140118T010000Z
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