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The 2021 South Korea General Strike is a general strike that occurred on October 20th, 2021 in which half a million workers in South Korea walked off their jobs to protest against part-time "irregular work", lack of economic power for workers, and to advocate for the nationalization of key industries.[1][2][3]
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is building a popular front with many sectors of society, such as the rural poor.
Background
South Korea has been dealing with neoliberalism since the 1980s under the military dictatorship, public assets have been privatized and free-market
Asian financial crisis of 1997 was a turning point towards the deepened immiseration of the South Korean working class, as well as national bankruptcy which led to South Korea's need to turn to the IMF which allowed it to be exploited by Western financiers.[4]
Demands
The union has demanded 15 things which can be put into the following categories:
- Abolish irregular work
- Give workers joint decision power
- Nationalize key sectors
- Expand social services
Future actions
The goal is for these actions to culminate in January 2022.
See also
References
- ↑ Half a Million South Korean Workers Walk Off Jobs in General Strike by Jia Hong and Ju-Hyun Park on TruthOut
- ↑ [Unlocked] Episode 18 - General Strike in South Korea w/ Ju-Hyun Park by Radio Free Amanda
- ↑ South Korean general strike challenges inequality by John Prysner of Liberation News, the paper of the Party for Socialism and Liberation
- ↑ The struggle against neoliberalism in South Korea: history and lessons