South Korean labor unions stepped up agitation yesterday, seeking to push their demands onto the national agenda of a country where the economy is in the midst of a robust recovery but unemployment remains at high levels.
Around 17,000 angry workers -- the self-proclaimed victims of the country's worst crisis since the Korean War -- rallied yesterday afternoon at the main railway station, snarling traffic in Seoul's bustling business district.
The protesters, who included some radical students, planned to march through the heart of the city later in the evening.
Analysts said labor tensions that began firing up this week with mass union rallies and demonstrations would only get worse with the April general election just months away.
"The tension is likely to intensify because labor thinks if they miss this opportunity they will find it difficult to push through in the future," said Kim Sung-shik, senior economist at LG Economic Research Institute.
Analysts said organized labor believed the pre-election period was the best time to drive hard bargains with the government as well as with management.
The country's two largest unions are calling for a reduction of weekly working hours to 40 from 44, allowing them to take Saturday off.
Workers also want to see an end to layoffs caused by corporate restructuring and a halt of sell-offs of state-run firms to foreign investors.
In addition the unions want the National Assembly to overturn an amendment to the labor law which would no longer require companies to pay the salaries of full-time union officials.
Workers are demanding the law be revised during the current National Assembly session, which lasts until Dec. 18.
The amendment, which the national legislature approved nearly three years ago, is to take effect on Jan. 1, 2002.
Workers say the law undermines union activity.
The Federation of Korean Industries, which represents more than 400 major companies, stoutly opposes any revision.
In a violent scuffle between workers and police earlier this week, 17 KCTU members were detained by police.
Economists said this week's labor unrest reflected growing frustration and isolation felt by low-paid workers amid the country's healthy economic recovery.
President Kim Dae-jung last week declared his country had put its worst crisis since the Korean war firmly behind it with the economy expected to grow more than nine percent year-on-year this year after shrinking 5.8 percent last year.
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