¡ªThe language of the common workers,
the language of the guidance division
Im in ai (LAN)
The strike scene of the 98 strike scene was in itself a giant communication ground. For 36 days they endlessly discussed the means of the struggle and moved constantly. Communication scale was diverse. Emergency countermeasure committee, members of the committee, self protection committee, culture committee, election district tent, family countermeasure, jobsite discussions, talks between casual acquaintances, message between security members etc. Furthermore, with news coming out from the television set from every tent, information routes were truly diverse.
A man called Kim**is a member of the self protection committee, belongs to the factory number 2, at scene a, and a representative. Then he must first receive the emergency countermeasure's schedule from the self protection committee or the representative meeting and share it with people at factory number 2, and he must also discuss with the people at the scene. He must also compare his information with the information given out from the news. And if there is a small unit meeting he attends to, he must also discuss with this group also.
Lee**of the culture committee is the same. If he is also a representative, it gets more complicated. And the situations he must face are furthermore complicated. He must make programs for the family countermeasure, hold tent tour assembly, and help the chairman on his tour of the strike scene; he had to work with many different units.
All this was managed by an assembly held twice a day, and was distributed by a leaflet called emergency countermeasure news bulletin. Family countermeasure and the scene organization distributed leaflets of their own.
Negotiations and assembly, leaflets, the cug where the emergency countermeasure leaflets come from, culture committee, family committee, the parade of the woman workers of the restaurant, the movements of the self protective committee, the speeches of the guidance division and representatives of the scene organization, discussions between union members of the tent, the articles written by the reporters at the press center....these were the information given out about this strike. But these are not enough to fully describe the strike scene. The official means of the communication and the unofficial ones were very different. Movements uncaught, subconscious not expressed, body languages, unofficial contact, discussion between small units....fragments left out from the giant discourses were floating everywhere. To truly understand the distinctive feature of the strike, we must put all these fragments into place like a puzzle. And this was no easy work.
July and August 1998, the summer of Ulsan Hyundai motors was strange. This hot weather, burning the body...this was a hot summer.
But suffocating more than the weather was the different ideas vaguely floating among the people. It was very complicated. And we, the end of the century scene report team were trying to observe every different opinions and thoughts. They were sometimes expressed but most of the time they did not secede from the official opinion.
August 10 1998, 9 am.
A message from the factory 1 told us that strike destroyers and managers came into the factory to operate the factory.
Self protection committee ran out to the factory 1.
"Get out! If you don't want to get beat up, get out!" "If you don't get out, we'll push you out!"
"We're risking our lives! Do you understand, bastards?"
People were pushing and shoving; a fight broke loose.
And then someone orders at the self protection committee, "Sit down!"
The young committee members, still in rage, sits down.
"Please..self protection members..sit down!" "Let's follow the order! Please sit down!"
Guidance division, to put things in matter, honestly speaks their opinion.
"Self protection committee, you can leave now! We don't need to use meaningless violence."
Self protection committee members, hiding their faces behind masks, were filled with rage.
"We were beaten up as well. Outside, there's bunch of members who'd been beaten up. And you tell us not to be violent?"
"No...there's no exact evidence on exactly who had beaten up the people on the outside. We can't even press charges on such stuff. So we can't use violence on the managers."
"They came into operate the factory, didn't they? We have to chase them out don't we?"
"The truth is, we self protection members are angry. We have to stop them now so that they won't do the same thing to factories number 2,3,and 4."
At the same time, managers of the higher rank rushed in from the other side.
"Look at them. They still haven't learned!"
"Lord knows what's going to happen if we leave here!"
"But please listen to the guidance division!"
"We can't tolerate any violent act here, please listen to us!"
But the self protection members refused to listen and faced the managers.
"Get out, where do you think this is?" "You think this is your office?"
"Cockroaches like you, we're not going to be responsible if anything happens."
"Get out!" "Get the hell out!" "Bastards..leave the scene!"
The faces of the self protection committee members, unable to hold their rage, become distorted. And sometimes, in their angry eyes, a trace of tear is shown. People fighting, people trying to stop the fight...suddenly the scene is beginning to get organized. "Control!" "Retreat!" "Control!" "Retreat!" "An order from the chairman. Leave immediately, self protection committee!" "Self protection committee. Leave at once!"
Not quite understanding the situation, self protection committee starts to leave the factory. And that morning the motors did not operate.
This lasted for 30minutes.
This was one of the actual incidents at the 1998 Hyundai motors strike scene. These days fighting in complete rage, throwing theirselves, acting as their emotions tell them to, are not called a struggle. Portion of the self protection committee members who fought this strange fight were adjustment dismissed and others were put to a temporary rest and still others are maintaining their jobs.
August 11, 1998. Site 2. An interview with a self protection committee member.
"When an higher union tells us not to use any means of violence, I just think this isn't right...This ain't violence...I mean my means of survival, my family's been destroyed and when they call our acts violence and all that, that's like treading on us, killing us twice, you know? I mean like those acts shown at the beginning of the strike, burning and destroying the desks and some managers getting beaten up and computers getting fucked up and all that...I just think they are natural acts..Look at what they're doing to us..I call it massacre. Massacre...I mean that's all they get for all this massacre...it's nothing compared to what we go through."
"When the company has already started adjustment dismissals, I don't think they'll retreat by negotiating. Think about it, they'll never retreat by negotiating. Opinions between the guidance division and those who got fired, they're totally different I think. Even now. However big the strike force maybe, if we don't get ourselves armed, we're nothing. What kind of force will we be if we keep this non-violent free of arm struggle tactics? We just fought for a month 'neath the tent, that's all we're gonna get. The feelings at the tent is that, lets just do'em as they done to us...If we don't get a retreat, let's just destroy the factory. But the tactics of the guidance division is different. They're thinking about the future of the labor movement so they're stopping us from doing what we want."
"The capital stops, try to stop this system where profit is made...So I suggested my idea to the guidance division once. Why don't we burn our instruments in front of them...Or make an error and give it back to them. Then the factory won't operate. Let's do that. Let's show'em our anger. If that doesn't work, we're going to have to press them harder. See they can't make adjustment dismissals that way. Let's completely destroy them until they give up. This is what we people at the scene thought and decided. If we're really thinking about our future, we have to finish the fight here. But the guidance division, wants to build the scene's future with safe negotiations. We're that much different."
August 14, 1998. Common worker's tent....
"If the guidance division tells us the stop the factory operation, we're gonna destroy it."
"If they're gonna cut us, that's fine. But we're going together. That's why I'm still here. If I ever thought about money, I should've already left. I don't wanna regret my life, y'know...I''m not leaving this way."
August 18, 1998. Night Assembly...
"I ask of you sincerely as the chairman. Please abide by this. Do not destroy the manufactured cars. Don't touch the mechanics...Let's not destroy and burn. Please I ask of you..."
"Guidance division is our lives! Protect them till the end!"
Let's all die together and let the some of us live.....adjustment dismissal with a countermeasure or a fight with the public powers...Some expressions became informations and some expressions were forgotten. The official flow and the unofficial desires were endlessly crossing each other on what kinds of tactics were chosen. But the problem didn't stop there. There was second dragnet. The second dragnet, this giant system was catching even those bits and pieces uncaught by the first dragnet. This started on the 17 of August, a giant spectalce, with Labor-company-politics committee, government arbitration and the house represantatives, minister of labor all having a part of their role. This lasted till the 24 of August, early morning. This was a political drama. 20, August 9:50 p.m.
Even Democratic labor union's chairman Gap Yong Lee, together with congressman Won Ki Kim seem like a vague minor part for the labor peace in front of the cameras. At the same time the security members, wearing white rain coats were holding their iron sticks. But they also were now, a simple prop, and the barricades and even the public powers seemed like a simple prop for this drama. The strike scene was a stage. On that stage, congressman Mu Hyun Roh was everywhere. and handsome look of the minister of labor Ki Ho Lee and pretentious look of president Mong Kyu Chung were definitely the high light. And that was how everything was set up. Under this giant system it was hard to analyze the characteristics of the Hyundai emergency countermeasure team. It was nearly impossible to be out of the strange system. It was a very tight and secured dragnet.
August 20,. 1998. An article from the Korean Economics Daily....
...And thus from the morning of the 20, the government arbitration team began meeting both sides of the labor and the employee representatives and also the individual guidance division of the labor unions, trying to come up with last minute arbitration.
August 21, 1998, 6 p.m.
"They were going to sign the paper, so why in hell did they make us do all this stuff for 30days? Bastards...same goes for the activists. We should be doing what we're supposed to be doing...There's nothing. No activists...It's all over now...People like us, who are uneducated, we just do as we're told. That's what they want us to do..."
August 22 10:45 p.m. In front of the main building press center. Press meeting with the arbitration team representative, congressman Mu Hyun, Roh.
"Are there any benefits to the company offered by the government?"
"None, I believe. Yes?"
"I am wondering what the processes were for the labor union to accept the adjustment dismissal?"
"I don't know that either."
Suddenly Roh makes an amusing smile.
Soon both sides realized that they were saying the different things and the reporter asks again.
"I'm curious how you persuaded the labor union.."
Silence fill the room for a while and someone from the arbitration team speaks.
"I believe it was because congressman Roh has always had a tight relationship with the labor unions. Official or unofficial, that is how I believe..um...we reached the settlement..."
Then congressman Roh speaks.
"Accepting the adjustment dismissal is what our time asks us...but for the labor union it was a hard thing to swallow. So there were conflicts, but with the situation being that Hyundai motors going through the adjustment dismissal..Korean Labor Union or the Democratic Labor Union, they'll both have to change some of their alignment.
Now then, who's going to bear the cross first....
All the labor movement refuses to accept this. Then who's going to be the bad guy first...
The most dauntless leader is going to bear the cross first....to accept the adjustment dismissal...that labor union leader! The chairman of the Hyundai motors is such a leader. Now people can say you sold out you made a compromise...but someone had to do it, and I call it honesty and courage...a responsible decision made by a leader. And we arbitration camp, are helping him, the necessity of this...I cannot tell you the specific details of the negotiation."
August 22 1998, 8:30, commonworker's tent...
"You know congressman Roh and the government arbitration camp, they knew all the cards themselves. Us labor union's been used, I think."
"So this is how we open the door to destruction...I can't believe the guidance division...like opening the box of Pandora.."
August 23 1998, 4p.m. Assembly at the Tae Hwa river, a speech made by Sung Hyun Moon (presently chairman of the metal union)
"It's been 10days. It's been 20days. A month. And so we asked the government for arbitration. And now we know who the real anti government forces are in this land. The minister of labor came, government arbitration team came, the political parties came and they sympathized with our struggle. so we gave them our arbitration plan."
August 23 1998 11 p.m. Common worker's tent...
"The fact that while fighting the adjustment laws the guidance division called for the government arbitration means that it is possible that the guidance division may deceive us. We too, were stupid not to have noticed guidance division's schemes."
"They pieced it all together. The law, they signed it .."
August 23 1998 2:10 a.m. Common worker's tent...
"With the adjustment dismissal it's all over now anyway..."
"We didn't have to come all the way down here to see this kind of negotiation done.."
"Let's just wait some more."
"Hey, it's all over."
"You know the reason they're there at the main building, they're not there to find a passageway out of here. They're just trying to see which way the wind blows...they just don't know the common worker's thoughts..."
"So the chairman's gonna go his own way, huh...Tomorrow morning, the whole world's gonna know..."
August 24 1998 2:47 p.m. Coming out from the negotiation building...
"We haven't reached an agreement yet. So please....reporters would you leave...No agreement."
August 24 1998 4:50 p.m. Press center, congressman Sung Jun Choe.
"Soon we will announce our agreement. ...Today is exactly 6 months since president Kim's inauguration. A brand new relationship between the employee and the workers, heading out to a good start."
And after 2 more hours, as minister of labor Ki Ho Lee said, like a "baby after several miscarriages", the negotiation, broadcasted live, is announced.
Not working for 36days, first since they came into Hyundai motors, the common workers and their family who had shouted,"we won't leave with out the withdrawal of the adjustment dismissal!" are leaving the factory with despondency.
August 24 1998 noon. The end of the strike...
The security guards at the main gate began to inspect the motor bikes leaving the strike scene.. Union members, inspected in front of their family leaves the building and heads home. As though from the beginning they knew there were no parts for them in this act. ...Hastily they leave.
An year passed. And the puzzle game of 98 is yet to be finished. From 2:35 a.m. to 47 August 24 1998, why did they come out in order, the Labor-Company-Government committee (minister of labor Ki Ho Lee, president Mong Kyu Chung, chairman Kwang Shik Kim) just to lie about the agreement to be announced just 3 hours later? 3 hours! What was the variable they feared so much? At that time at the strike scene, more than half of its union members had left the scene already. There were no accidents. But all these situations had clues for the negotiation tactics. These pieces of puzzle were everywhere on that Hyundai motors strike scene. Different opinions, different expressions, different languages refused to communicate. Some tactics were chosen and some left out. Some information were known and some were restricted. The rhetorics between the guidance division and the common workers were distinctively different but were self controlled. The 3 scene organizations who were constantly critical about the guidance division and activists and common workers, all of them...all agreed in the name of order and labor movement. There were no real communication. No one was out of this. So there it was the face of Korean labor movement, a complete communication breakdown. Someone must face the truth now. And at the same time someone must search and understand the thoughts and acts free from the 2 dragnets. That is where the puzzle game of the 98 Hyundai strike ends. But we don't conceive it as a hope. It is rather, our face we did not recognize in the midst of acts not seen in the political game, information left out.