South Korea: BWI supports unions’ fight vs. state persecution

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) expresses its full support for the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) as they collectively push back against their government’s continuing assault on trade union rights, particularly the right to associate, organise and collectively bargain. BWI adds its voice in strongly denouncing the South Korean government’s anti-union and anti-worker schemes, notably against the Korean Construction Workers’ Union (KCWU), an industrial affiliate of the KFCITU. 

For several years now, the South Korean government has weaponised various laws to civilly and criminally sanction the KCWU for actions and activities which are completely lawful and protected by the Constitution of Republic of Korea and the International Labour Organisation’s various conventions (ILO). This started in 2021 with the creation of the “Task Force for Eradicating Unlawful Activities at Construction Sites” which maliciously misclassified trade unions as mere “associations” and its members as “business entities. In doing so, unions, such as the KCWU, have been accused of engaging in anti-competitive behavior, such as price-fixing. It also imposed exorbitant penalty surcharges for KCWU activities and extortionate fines for its alleged violation of the country’s Fair Hiring Act. It even ridiculously prosecuted KCWU for the so-called crime of coercion for simply making collective bargaining demands to employers to hire union members. Currently, a total of 103 unionists and workers were reportedly prosecuted, including one arrest.

Due to the increasing state persecution against the KCWU, BWI, FFCITU and KCTU jointly filed a complaint against the South Korean government before the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association. The complaint asserts that the South Korean government, including the police, public prosecutors, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), and the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), have misused various laws, including the Criminal Law, the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act and the Fair Hiring Procedure Act to legally harass the KCWU and create a chilling effect on union activities in South Korea. BWI calls on the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association to urgently act on the complaint even as it continuously demands the South Korean government to cease its abuse of the KCWU, and fully recognise trade union rights.

On 28 February, South Korean trade unionists and workers will hold a big demonstration to protest their government’s relentless attack on trade union rights. BWI sends it solidarity to our South Korean sisters and brothers as they take the streets to defend and safeguard labour and trade union rights. We join them in their fight. We will continue to build higher unities and raise our voices until the victory of South Korean construction workers is completely secured.