Korean strike leader kills himself over anti-union sequestrations
On 10 January a trade unionist at Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, a shipbuilding firm, burned himself to death.
He commited suicide in protest against the company’s suppression of union members.
Bae Dal-ho, a 50-year-old team leader of the boilers section, was found burned to death near the cooling tower. Bae had worked for Doosan for 21 years.
Doosan had demanded that Bae take financial responsibility for his involvement in a 47-day strike in May last year. The company convinced the court to hold his wage and restrict his bank access.
Bae left a memo, found in his car: “Due to the company’s provisional seizure of my wages, I had not received any pay for more than six months. No wage will be paid to me on this forthcoming payday.”
The seizure of personal assets is a new form of suppression of trade unions in Korea. Around 50 companies are asking for a total of 22 billion won.
You can help the Korean unions by email protest (please copy your letter to the unions: inter@kctu.org).
• President of Doosan Group, Park Yong-sung, email: yspark@doosan.com
• President of the Republic of Korea, Kim Dae-Jung, email:
president@cwd.go.kr
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