Vol.64/No.24 June 19, 2000
Labor Briefs
South Korea workers strike for shorter workweek
Tens of thousands of workers in south Korea struck May 31 in support of their demands for a cut in the workweek from six days to five and a 15.2 percent wage hike. The action was organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which has 590,000 members. The workers also opposed unilateral corporate restructuring and government plans to sell Daewoo Motor Co. to a foreign firm, anticipating how such moves will be used to slash jobs and wages and to worsen conditions. They also demanded rights for temporary workers. In another development, the government averted a walkout by the pilots at Korean Airlines when they acceded to the demand to allow the formation of a flight union.
Northwest attendants ratify pact
Flight attendants at Northwest Airlines ratified a new five-year contract May 30 that raises pay between 29 percent and 120 percent. According to unofficial returns, 68 percent voted to approve the agreement. The pact provides improvements in pay, pension, health benefits, and working conditions for the 11,000 flight attendants at the nation's fourth-largest airline.
Northwest flight attendants have sought a new contract since 1996, having taken severe pay cuts over the previous years. Seven years later their wages are only 3 percent higher than before the cuts.
Northwest sued the union over an alleged sick-out during the Christmas-New Year's holiday week. It later fired 18 flight attendants for calling in sick and obtained a court order allowing them to search the home computer drives of some attendants. The company said that if the new agreement is ratified, it will drop this lawsuit.
Aeroméxico workers walk out
Flight attendants at the Mexican airline Aeroméxico began a strike June 1 to demand a 20 percent wage increase in face of sky-high inflation. The baggage handlers, whose union organizes 7,000 workers, also walked out after rejecting the government's pay raise offer. They also demanded a 20 percent raise.
Unionists put up red and black strike flags in 40 Aeroméxico stations and ticket offices throughout the country. Meanwhile, the government responded by taking over the administration of the airline.
--BRIAN WILLIAMS
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