POSCO (Pohang Iron & Steel Co.)

ILO violation 87 : The brutality and excessive violence frequently used by police against workers claimed another victim on 1 August, when Ha Joong Keun, a member of the Pohang Steel Local Union, died from the head injuries inflicted by riot police while he was demonstrating with the Korean Federation of Construction Industry Trade Unions (KFCITU) outside the POSCO headquarters on 16 July. Eyewitnesses reported on that day that the police used their metal shields to repeatedly hammer Ha Joong Keun’s head. The strike at POSCO was sparked by management’s use of a labour sub-contractor to provide workers to the factory, and the employer’s unwillingness to ensure that sub-contractor bargains in good faith with the union. Workers went on strike on 13 July, sitting in at the factory, and riot police were called in and surrounded the factory. KFCITU then organized the 16 July rally to support the workers at which the attack against Ha Joong Keun occurred. Police using water cannons also broke up another rally, organized by the KCTU in the ensuing week. When the approximately 2500 workers finally ended their sit in on 23 July and left the factory, police swooped in and arrested 138 workers who they identified as the union leaders and representatives of the striking workers. Despite public calls and letters from the ITUC and other international trade unionists to top government officials, no separate and impartial investigation was held to focus on the killing.: South Korea