Korean, US workers challenge trade pact
Press Associates, Inc.
Korean, U.S. workers challenge trade pact
18 June 2007
WASHINGTON — Responding to intense and widespread opposition from both U.S. and Korean workers, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is trying to stop the Bush government’s proposed "free trade" pact with South Korea.
At a June 13 Capitol Hill rally, unionists from the AFL-CIO and three Korean unions told four House Democrats a Republican that the pact, if passed, would hurt Korean workers, farmers, finances and public services. The lawmakers pledged to stop it and Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., said he is rounding up votes from textile-state Republicans.
Bush wants to push legislation authorizing the U.S.-Korea FTA through before a June 30 deadline, when his "fast track" power to pass such pacts, without labor rights and without any changes by Congress, expires.
Bush Trade Representative Susan Schwab recently pledged a new "side letter" to the pact would call for increased enforcement of Korean labor laws, by both Korea and the U.S. That drew retorts from the lawmakers. One noted it left Korea free to weaken its already weak labor laws, while Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., a former UNITE factory shop steward, questioned Bush’s commitment to enforcing any labor laws, here or there.
"Look at OSHA," Hare said. "They had to get sued" by unions "just to get one (job safety) standard" instituted. "If they (Bush) can’t protect American workers, how can you trust them on this?"
Bush hit opposition not just from U.S. workers—led by the Auto Workers—but also from top Korean unions. The Korean government has retaliated against them by throwing dozens of union leaders in jail. One Korean worker, on April 1, set himself on fire to protest the impact of the pact.
Speakers, including Young Keo Hoo of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Seo Joon-Sap of the Korean Government Workers’ Union and Geun Tae Park of the Korean Metal Workers, told lawmakers of the impact the pact would have on Korean workers.
They said that almost half of Korea’s workers are exploited due to the fact they are not regular employees, and the pact would drive their wages and living standards down. Joon-Sap also said the pact opens the way for privatizing Korean public services, thus threatening the jobs of the 400,000 workers his union represents.
Jeff Vogt, an AFL-CIO trade pact specialist, said the federation opposes the U.S.-Korea FTA not just because of Korea’s worker rights record, but also because workers in neither country benefit, while multinationals do. Other speakers noted the pact does little if anything to open the Korean auto market, while leaving the U.S. market open to Korean cars. Korea exported 700,000 cars to the U.S. last year and imported 4,000.
