"Negotiation Representatives Must Not Be Arrested" Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Subcontractors' Union Holds Emergency Press Conference

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Metalworkers' Union Geoje Tongyeong Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontractors' Branch workers held an emergency press conference on the morning of the 5th. / Photo by Ryeong Lee ryeong@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] On the morning of the 5th, workers of the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Metal Union Geoje·Tongyeong·Goseong Shipbuilding Subcontracting Branch held an emergency press conference in protest against police summons and other actions.

On the 4th, the Geoje Police Station in Gyeongnam announced that they had requested an arrest warrant for a union member of the subcontracting branch who was conducting a sit-in occupation on a ship being built in Dock No. 1 at Okpo Shipyard.

The subcontracting branch stated, "On the 4th at 7:30 p.m., the police sent a text message to Branch Chief Kim Hyung-su, ordering him to appear by the 13th for a hearing," and criticized, "This is the result of acting under the influence of in-house subcontractors and a farce that only sought ways to suppress the current situation."

"We have aimed for non-violent struggle, silently maintaining the strike formation despite the company's violent raid on the protest site, and demanded negotiations," they said. "If the party responsible for negotiations is arrested or detained, the situation cannot be resolved," they argued.

On this day, they opposed the deployment of police and other public authorities to the strike that began on the 2nd of last month and urged Gyeongsangnam-do Province, the Korea Development Bank, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to resolve the situation.