From: "Curtis Price" <cansv-AT-igc.apc.org>
Date:          Wed, 22 Jan 1997 10:33:58 +0000
Subject:       (Fwd) [73] STRIKING WORKERS TO RETURN TO JOBS MONDAY


------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date:          Sat, 18 Jan 1997 12:54:10 -0500
From:          NewsHound-AT-sjmercury.com (NewsHound)

Subject:       [73] STRIKING WORKERS TO RETURN TO JOBS MONDAY

Selected by your NewsHound profile entitled "STRIKES". The selectivity score was
 73 out of 100.

Striking workers to return to jobs Monday
By SANG-HUN CHOE

Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Faced with waning support and pressure to compromise,
 militant union leaders on Saturday ordered a temporary halt to three weeks of 
nationwide labor protests.

But thousands of workers and supporters were in the streets again Saturday, 
hurling rocks and fighting off tear gas, to back their demand for the repeal of 
a new law that workers say threaten their jobs.

The surprise decision by the union leaders to return to work Monday immediately 
eased tensions in South Korea. Hundreds of auto and other export plants have 
been crippled over the past 24 days.

Union leaders said tens of thousands of auto and other workers will heed their 
order and return to work Monday. They will strike every Wednesday and warned 
that wider protests will resume unless the disputed labor law is repealed by 
mid-February.

The law, rammed through Parliament by the governing party in a secret session 
Dec. 26, makes it easier to lay off workers and hire replacements, and delays 
key labor benefits including the right to form labor unions. Protests have been 
held almost daily since then.

Within hours of their announcement, about 12,000 workers, teachers, students, 
nuns and Buddhist monks marched out of a park in Seoul. Some shouted ``Abolish 
the evil law!''

A part of that group, mostly students, numbering about 4,000, broke away and 
occupied a six-lane boulevard. Fierce battles erupted when police fired tear gas
 to disperse them.

Thumping metal pipes on the pavement, the protesters repeatedly dashed forward, 
showering police with rocks, who retaliated with tear gas.

The other demonstrators, led by about 20 Christian ministers holding a huge 
cross, marched peacefully. Many wore white masks over their mouths with a black 
``X'' marked on them. Others wore black silk ribbons with signs that said, 
``Funeral of the Kim Young-sam regime,'' referring to South Korea's president.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests.

Earlier Saturday, the leader of a militant labor group that spearheaded the 
nationwide protests said that workers will strike every Wednesday beginning next
 week until mid-February.

The move came amid mounting public pressure for both government and labor to 
compromise. Support for the labor group was also waning after its strike call 
last week was ignored by many workers.

In the southern industrial city of Ulsan, Hyundai Motors Co., the country's 
biggest automaker, opened its plant Saturday after a weeklong lockout -- the 
clearest sign yet that the protests were waning.

The company reported little production because most workers refused to pick up 
their tools until Monday.

Hyundai Motors was one of the hardest hit by the unrest. Two smaller car 
producers -- Ssangyong and Asia -- already had announced plans to reopen their 
plants on Monday.

Government officials estimate the strikes cost South Korea more than $3 billion 
in lost production and export earnings.

AP-WS-01-18-97 1126EST


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