The Hope Bus Campaign:
South Korean Workers Resist Layoffs

Park Hyun-jung

The   B u l l e t
Socialist Project * E-Bulletin No. 528
July 20, 2011

The Hope Bus Campaign is establishing itself as an icon of
resistance to employment anxieties that are threatening
worker and working-class livelihoods. The Hope Bus
Campaign was launched with the goal of supporting
embattled union members and Kim Jin-suk, a member of the
Busan chapter of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
(KCTU). Kim is currently in the 186th day of an aerial
protest calling for the withdrawal of Hanjin Heavy
Industries and Construction (HHIC) layoff plans from the
No. 85 crane at the company's Yeongdo shipyard in Busan.
The buses aspire toward a "world without layoffs and
temporary workers."

Kim Jin-suk, of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions,
on a crane at Hanjin Heavy Industries in Busan, where she
has been holding a sit-in since January 6.

Amid heavy rains Saturday afternoon, a caravan of around
150 Hope Buses and 50 vans headed for the shipyard where
Kim is protesting along with six union members who have
tied themselves to the crane with the stated goal of
protecting her. While the first round of buses had around
700 riders, some 5,000 people from all over the country
got on board for this second round.

The range of participants is also more diverse. In
addition to citizens unaffiliated with any group and
representatives of political parties, labour activists,
university students, health care professionals, religious
figures, and legal professionals, the latest round saw
large-scale participation by members of socially
vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities,
sexual minorities, eviction protesters, migrant workers,
and youth.

What is the reason behind this voluntary uniting of people
from different backgrounds in a show of solidarity for a
labour-management conflict involving layoffs at a single
regional workplace?

Not Just Someone Else's Problems

Hope Bus riders said they felt a sense of profound concern
about the experiencing of HHIC union members, which "no
longer seemed like someone else's problem." Poet Song
Kyung-dong, who suggested the bus idea, also views this as
the reason for the event's increased scale.

"With increases in temporary positions and layoffs, we are
living in an insecure society," Song said.

"People do not talk about it, but there is an inherent
anger about this, and this is where the solidarity has
emerged from," he said.

At a time when the social safety net is inadequate, the
increase in layoffs and temporary positions threatens the
survival rights of the working-class. People who have
experienced this situation directly or indirectly are
lending their support to Kim's dedicated struggle.

"On the surface, the HHIC issue and issues involving
people with disabilities do not appear to be connected
with each other," said Moon Ae-rin, 31, a participant in
the second round of Hope Buses who is confined to a
wheelchair with cerebral palsy. "But the reality is that
working conditions are poorer for people with
disabilities."

"What they are going through is what I am going through,"
Moon said.

Dongguk University Student Council President Kwon Gi-hong,
23, who took part in the fight for a 50 per cent reduction
in tuition fees, said, "We become workers when we
graduate, and unless there are changes to the reality [of
pressures on workers], what happened to the HHIC union
members could happen to us."

The Hope Buses' impassioned call for a solution to the
HHIC layoff issue appears set to develop into a larger
demand for controls on corporate greed in seeking profits
even at the expense of employment.

Office worker Park Jeong-hui, 27, who rode during both
Hope Bus trips, noted, "In her speech, Kim Jin-suk used
the expression, 'People I cannot turn my back on even if
they turn their backs on me,' and I had the sense she was
referring not only to HHIC union members, but to all of us
who lack power and support and could be fired at any
time."

"The important thing about the HHIC issue is that it is
opening up a forum for questioning how society should be
controlling the unjust pursuit of profits by business,"
Park added.

Intimately familiar with employment insecurities, workers
engaged in long-term battles at Ssangyong Motor, YPR, and
Valeo Compressor also began a two-day stay Saturday
looking for "hope" in Busan. Thirty in-house
subcontracting workers at Hyundai Motor who lost their
jobs after demanding conversion from irregular dispatch
worker status to regular worker status, rode into Busan
from Ulsan on "Hope Bikes."

"Hyundai Motor's irregular workers are suffering
oppression, with 104 of them dismissed over a 25-day
period last winter sit-in protests, and around 1,000
having their bank accounts garnished as punishment," said
Park Yeong-hyeon, one of the Hyundai Motor in-house
subcontracting workers.

"After seeing the citizen solidarity symbolized by the
Hope Buses, we are considering getting back up to fight
again," Park added.

for the rest of this, go to
http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/528.php

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