Wave of support as Korean workers prepare for general strike
As the #KoreaGeneralStrike approaches, solidarity actions are pouring in. Hundreds of unionists from Kyrgyzstan, Brazil, Germany, India, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, France, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, the USA and Sweden have taken action, taking pictures of themselves holding signs in support of the general strike for workers rights and sharing the images on social media.
South Korean President Park Guen-hye has received dozens of letters from trade unions demanding her resignation.
On 30 November, unions in Brazil have planned protests at a Hyundai Auto plant in Anápolis and a Hyundai equipment plant in San Léopold while IndustriALL together with other Global Union Federations (GUFs) will march to the Korean mission in Geneva to deliver their protest letter.
Korean Metalworkers Union (KMWU) members met on 21 November to prepare for the general strike and expressed their gratitude for the solidarity shown by unions all over the world.
On the days leading up to the general strike you can continue to show your support in many different ways. Here is what you can do:
- Send a protest letter. Put it on your union’s letterhead, insert your union’s name in the first sentence, add a signature and send it to the email addresses listed at the top of the letter.
- Take selfies holding up the solidarity sign (links to the right) and post them online with the hashtag #KoreaGeneralStrike and send them to [email protected] to share.
- Holding an action at a Korean embassy or consulate or at a location of one of the anti-labour, corrupt Korean corporations such as Hyundai, LG, Posco or Samsung. You could deliver a protest letter to the embassy, consulate or management. Make sure to send pictures or videos of the action to [email protected] to share.
