* conferences Seoul, South Korea Anti-IMF Steve Zeltzer In the midst of the largest depression in 30 years, thousands of unemployed and fired workers rallied in Seoul on September 12 to protest the illegal lay-offs and the role of the IMF and World Bank in implementing a structural adjustment programme in South Korea. They were also angry that the Kim Dae Jung government has actively encouraged the chaebols who represent large private family monopolies to implement massive downsizing in flagrant violation of union rights.
The demonstration followed a conference called by the independent Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Seoul-based Policy And Information Centre For International Solidarity (PICIS)2
The conference, called "People Against The IMF" attracted several hundred delegates, including 35 from abroad: the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Mexico, the USA and France.
The internationalisation of Korean capital has now led the trade union movement in Korea to reach out for greater links with workers around the world to fight similar policies and bosses. Attending the conference was a worker from the Han Young plant in Tijuana and after the conference he visited the factory floor of Hyundai assembly plant in Ulsan.
Much of the reports and discussion at the conference pointed to the devastating effects of the United States and IMF policies throughout Asia and around the world
Muchtar Pakpahan, leader of the Prosperous Workers Union Of Indonesia, and of the newly formed National Labour Party (PBN), argued against any further IMF loans that came the same corrupt politicians in power. The Indonesian people, Pakpahan said, are paying for these "loans, " while the money 1s going in the pockets of the ruling families without any conditions on labour and democratic rights.
He had recently returned from the United States in August where he met with the AFL-CIO executive council to discuss the problems of his unions and the conditions of the Indonesian workers.
Delegates heard that more than 240 Korean unionists are either under arrest or wanted on arrest warrants for striking and union organising. President Kim Dae Jung has said that workers are not legally able to strike over lay-offs and many unionists now face jail for striking
The KCTU has also filed a complaint with the ILO that the Kim Dae Jung government has violated international labour rights that allow for freedom of association. KCTU Secretary Treasurer Koh Young-joo told delegates that there is more imprisonment under Kim Dae Jung than under the previous president.
The organisers of the conference made full use of modern technology. Speeches at the September 12 rally were broadcast live on the Internet, via a mobile telephone. These activists have also formed an organisation called the Progressive Network Centre. They plan to launch a LaborNet web page for Korea in November as well as providing education, training on the use of this technology and providing an on-line service for workers and other activists.
The KCTU is also sponsoring an International Labour Film And Video
Delegates at the conference obviously discussed how to deal with the deepening crisis. British participant Colin Hines outlined the need for "protection controls". In a paper titled "Who Will Buy?-Reversing Global Deflation Requires A New Protectionism" Hines with co-author Alan Simpson, a UK Labour MP argued that only protection controls for the development of the local economies could protect countries from the ensuing meltdown. "This is the context in which a new protectionism will be recognised as being synonymous with the inclusive society and the stakeholder economy"
Hines and Simpson called for "democratic control over capital" a "Europe wide Tobin Tax on international capital transactions to curb currency speculators, broader re-regulation of finance capital Europe wide is required".
Mike Waghorne, Assistant General Secretary of the Public Services International Union which represents the majority of public workers around the world warned that public services must be efficient if they were to get support and that only in "the Scandinavian countries" could public workers unions have successful collaboration agreements"
His paper also declared that although the World Bank's 1997 World Development Report was flawed, it called for a "strong, effective and agile state" that would "restrain corruption and arbitrary state action". Waghorne admitted in discussion that some labour governments around the world were now leading the attacks on public workers. He pointed to the New Zealand Labor government, which had launched a whole scale attack on public services and "successfully split the labour movement"
Hundreds of workers and youth in Korean are still in prison for their working class and socialist viewpoints. But the Korea Youth Progress Party organised a specific workshop to discuss "working class political parties around the world." Manuel Sarmiento, Secretary and Treasurer of the Philippine KMU trade union federation, and Taffazzul Hussain of the Bangladesh National contributions.* Choi Hyuk, President of the Korea Youth Progress Party, responded, and outlined his views on the challenge facing Korean radicals.
In the last election, the KCTU had launched the People's Victory 21 Party, and supported the presidential campaign of former KCTU president Kwon Young Gil. According to the KYPP, the major weakness of this initiative was a weak organising campaign and slogans such as "let's work with the candidate from the opposition party who could be elected". A number of conference delegates expressed frustration that this, the first such initiative, had "adapted" to the Kim Dae *The author presented the US Labor Party at the 3. www.jinbo.net 4. Organised on November 12-15 by the Seoul-based group Labour Video Production. Seoul. For more information contact <Inp89@chollian.net>
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