71 organizations in 31 regions participated… Slightly reduced number of participants due to the conclusion of the negotiation
The ‘7.23 Daewoo Shipbuilding Subcontractor Hope Bus’ (Hope Bus) arrived in Geoje on the 23rd.
71 organizations from 38 regions across the country applied for and gathered in Geoje on 37 buses to encourage the subcontractor workers of Daewoo Shipbuilding who concluded labor-management negotiations and ended the strike.
In addition to buses, private vehicles and planes were used in some cases, and farmers belonging to the National Federation of Farmers’ Associations (Jeonnong) in Busan drove 50 ‘Hope Trucks’.
As the negotiations were concluded the day before, 2,300 people participated, regarding 700 fewer than the original estimate.
After attending the resolution meeting hosted by the Metal Workers’ Union at 2:30 pm at the west gate of Daewoo Shipbuilding, they held a cultural festival that was the main event from 3 pm.
Director Kim Jin-sook said, “We mightn’t leave our comrades locked up in a cage by ourselves, so we had to fast because we felt like we had to climb high and do something.
Then, he encouraged, “Let’s unite and grow bigger. It showed that the world turns upside down when we come together,” and “We become stronger when we are together.”
Earlier, at the Korea Metal Workers’ Union Resolution Conference, Yoon Jang-hyeok, chairman of the Korea Metal Workers’ Union, said, “The struggle of subcontracted workers in the shipbuilding industry was not their own struggle, but the struggle of the whole society and the people.”
Vice Chairman Yoo Choi-an, who himself went into a 1㎥ (0.3 pyeong) iron cage, said, “It’s a short victory, but if we can share it, if we can fight once more, it’s enough.” “It’s not a 30% demand, it’s a demand to get rid of irregular workers in this land and to eliminate discrimination.”
Afterwards, a performance called “Floating the Boat of Hope” was held with a message of support for subcontractors.
Participants attached a message of support prepared in advance to the large 2m high ‘Hope Boat’.
The organizer explained that it embodies the process of creating hope.
The labor union of Daewoo Shipbuilding’s subcontractors (Joseon Subcontracting Branch, Geoje Tongyeong Goseong, Metal Workers’ Union) reached a conclusion of labor-management negotiations the day before following a 51-day strike from the 2nd of last month to demand a wage increase.
The Hope Bus, originally planned to support the strike of the subcontractor union and oppose the input of public power, was carried out with the purpose of encouraging subcontractor workers as negotiations were concluded the day before.
/yunhap news