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Kim Jin-suk, right, an activist who has staged a sit-in atop a crane for 309 days to protest a massive layoff by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, celebrates the settlement of the labor dispute after coming down from the crane following the union’s acceptance of a tentative agreement with management on the reinstatement of laid-off workers.
/ Yonhap
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Unionists accept agreement with Hanjin Heavy on reemployment of workers
By Kim Rahn
Labor unionists of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction unanimously accepted a tentative agreement with management Thursday to end the protracted labor dispute after 11 months.
Following the accord, activist Kim Jin-suk, who has staged a sit-in atop a giant crane in the company’s Yeongdo shipyard in Busan for 309 days, came down.
Some 500 union members held a general meeting and accepted the agreement unanimously even without holding a vote as no one raised objections.
The accord, reached a day earlier, includes: rehiring the 94 workers within a year; offering each of them 20 million won for living expenses; and dropping all suits which the company and the union filed against each other.
The union originally planned to hold the meeting Wednesday afternoon but suspended it as hundreds of police officers surrounded the crane to apprehend Kim upon her descent.
After the unionists’ decision, Kim finally set her foot on land after climbing down from the 35-meter-high operator’s seat of the 50-meter crane at 3:20 p.m. Her 309-day sit-in was the longest protest on a crane in Korea.
“I’m glad that now there is no distinction between workers and laid-off workers. I appreciate Hope Bus ralliers who have supported laid-off employees,” Kim said. “I knew that I would be able to come down alive. I’ve never given up trusting you, the union. You saved me.”
Taking her into custody at the shipyard gate, police took her to a hospital for a checkup. A union member said that she has suffered from a stomachache for a long time and the rheumatoid arthritis in joints in both her arms recently grew worse.
When her condition gets better, police plan to investigate her on suspicion of illegal entry of property and business interference.
In the evening after Kim came down from the crane, union leaders and company executives officially signed the agreement.
The 11-month-long dispute began on Dec. 20 last year when the union went on a strike to protest the shipbuilder’s plan to lay off 400 workers for cost-cutting. Kim climbed the crane on Jan. 6 and began her sit-in.
The dispute gained national attention as supporters of the protesters ― civic groups, opposition political parties, and some celebrities including actress Kim Yoh-jin ― visited the shipyard on five occasions on buses called “Hope Buses” from all across the country.
Supporters organized gatherings and showed their support for Kim through Twitter, showing a new culture of protesting. But they sometimes clashed violently with police officers, and some residents near the shipyard demanded they not come to Busan.
As the deadlock continued for months, the National Assembly proposed mediation which included the rehiring of laid-off employees and living expenses provisions. As company Chairman Cho Nam-ho accepted the mediation, the union and management negotiated based on it.
On the settlement of the dispute, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said it is a victory of struggle, solidarity and hope. “It is a valuable result which was made by Kim, Hanjin Heavy union, and civic groups and opposition lawmakers who have supported the union,” the umbrella union said in its statement.
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