Korea-U.S. FTA

U.S. Unions Divided on Deal

The UAW and United Food and Commercial Workers are for the deal, but

The machinists’ union has denounced the Korea deal, while two other powerful unions, the steelworkers and the communications workers, will announce their opposition on Thursday, union officials say.

And the AFL-CIO will probably come out against the agreement Thursday as well:

The nation’s main labor federation, the A.F.L.-C.I.O., is usually quick to denounce trade agreements, but so far it has been silent about the Korean pact, apparently because of the disagreement among its member unions.

Several union officials said, however, that the A.F.L-C.I.O. would issue a statement early Thursday criticizing the Korean deal, in particular for not doing more to protect the rights of workers to unionize in both South Korea and the United States.

Steven Greenhouse: U.S. Union Backing Helps Korea Trade Pact Chances

Korean Labor Leader Visits U.S.

Korean labor leader Lee Suk-haeng is headed to the U.S. to talk about trade agreement issues with U.S. labor leaders and legislators: Parties discuss Korea-U.S. FTA ratification (Yonhap News, Feb 11):

UAW Leader Says South Korea Steals U.S. Jobs

The United Auto Workers (UAW) President Ron Gettelfinger spoke to about 1,000 union activists on Feb 3: South Korea called threat (Justin Hyde, Detroit Free Press, Feb 4). 

The speech touched on other issues including the upcoming election,the stimulus package, and a recent agreement with the auto companies, but he got in a dig at Korea:

Korean Labor Promises Protests

Bae Ji-sook reports that the chairman of the of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has promised protests against the trade agreement with the U.S.: Labor Union Challenges President-Elect (Korea Times, January 11, 2008):

...he revealed that the group is planning protests against the free trade agreement between Korea and the United States.

He said he would meet leaders of labor unions in other countries such as the U.S., Canada and Australia to discuss the issue.

The FTA and the Market for Lawyers in Korea

The market for lawyers in Korea appears to have tightened up, as Korean law firms anticipate increased competition under the trade agreement: Law Firms Strive For Survival, Lawyers Welcome Open Legal Market (Dong-a, January 8, 2008):

Labor Rights in the Export Processing Zones

The export processing zone in North Korea at Kaesong is an important part of South Korea's efforts to improve relations with the North.  South Korean companies make products there for domestic use and export using North Korean workers.  New zones may be added in the future.

The South Koreans wanted the FTA to cover goods from these zones.  The final agreement didn't allow this, but created a framework - including a joint U.S.-Korean committee - for deciding whether or not to do so in the future.  These provisions are in Annex 22-B.

Human Rights Watch objects to these provisions.  In fact, it thinks the whole agreement should be abandoned because of this one section.  It feels the agreement misses an opportunity to push North Korea even harder towards improvements in the treatment of workers.

These are the key provisions of the annex:

Christine Ahn's Five Myths

Christine Ahn prepared the leaflet Debunking Five Myths aboutthe Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (Korus FTA) for the progressive/left, Oakland Institute.

The five myths:

Korean metalworkers to strike against FTA

The Hankyoreh reports that Korean metalworkers plan to strike for five days next week, to protest the FTA: Metalworkers vow to strike against Korea-U.S. FTA next week (June 19):

The Association of Unions of Metalworkers told reporters the union would strike next week to scrap the bill on the bilateral trade agreement with the U.S., which they said weakens the rights of workers....

The association decided to hold the five-day strike from Monday to Friday next week.

However, critics say the strike will be illegal and only politically motivated, since the strike was not voted on by individual unions.

The association originally planned to hold a vote at its member unions this week for the proposed strike but decided not to, saying the voting would be difficult in many workplaces due to poor progress in labor-management negotiations.

Korean and U.S. labor organizations rallied against the FTA last week: Korean, U.S. workers challenge trade pact (workday Minnesota, June 18):

...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...

Export-processing zones in N. Korea: Annex 22-C

The export-processing zone at Kaeseong or Gaeseong in North Korea has been an important part of So. Korea's outreach to the north.   On the other hand, the U.S. is extremely sensitive to the political implications of these goods, and is concerned that the workers producing them are being exploited.

The export-processing zone at Kaeseong or Gaeseong in North Korea has been an important part of So. Korea's outreach to the north.   On the other hand, the U.S. is extremely sensitive to the political implications of these goods, and is concerned that the workers producing them are being exploited.