7/30 Asiana Pilots Threaten General Strike

Asiana Pilots Threaten General Strike   Defying public criticism, unionized pilots at Asiana Airlines Inc., Korea's second-largest carrier, went on a one-day strike yesterday after they failed to reach an agreement with management on better working conditions. About 250 of the 527 union members participated in the walkout that began at 1 a.m., refusing to pilot all flights scheduled to depart from Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport for 24 hours. The action, which came at the beginning of the peak summer holiday season, threatened to cause confusion among passengers and disrupt normal operations of not only Asiana flights but also other carriers. Asiana reported no major disruptions, saying it mobilized more than 200 nonunion and foreign pilots to operate all 105 international flights and 152 domestic flights. But the carrier said that if the strike continues, it could be forced to cut its number of flights significantly, possibly by 20 to 30 percent. After internal discussions yesterday, the pilots' union said it would return to work today but stage a general strike within 10 days if management refused to budge on labor negotiations. "We are not demanding much. We just want to be guaranteed enough rest needed for safe flights, employment stability and fair personnel policies," the union said in a statement. "But we will do our best to conclude an agreement with management before any undesirable situation materializes." Asiana expects only half of its pilots will be able to work if the union goes ahead with a general strike. When Asiana pilots held a general strike for six consecutive days in June 2001, the airline had a loss of 10.2 billion won as it was forced to cut off more than half of its international flights. But the pilots are taking flak from the public, who is calling them a "noble labor union" and saying their demands are excessive in view of the current economic slump and high unemployment. The pilots are demanding that the retirement age be raised to 57 from the current 54, the option to work for two more years as part-time pilots after retirement and more days off. But Asiana says the pilots have enough rest and pay already, citing they work an average 60-70 hours a month and get an annual salary between 90 million won and 190 million won, several times more than employees in most other industries. Pilots at Korean Air Co., the nation's largest airline, continued their work-to-rule campaign for a third consecutive day yesterday, running their planes at the minimum speed of between 20 and 35 kilometers per hour during taxiing. With strikes scheduled in a number of other major industries later this week, state prosecutors warned yesterday that they will take tough measures against any illegal industrial action. About 28,000 workers affiliated with the Korean Metal Workers Union staged a four-hour walkout yesterday, demanding a rise in minimum monthly pay to 815,000 won and the right of irregular workers to organize. If no agreement is reached by today, the union will hold another four-hour stoppage tomorrow and has plans to extend the walkout until management responds. Members of the Korean Health and Medical Workers Union will also walk out tomorrow if management at hospitals reject their demands including the implementation of the five-day workweek system. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions, the larger of the country's two umbrella unions, has announced that about 100,000 of its members across the country will strike today to protest the government's labor policies. Frustrated by the National Assembly's failure to approve a reform bill on irregular workers and the tragic death last month of a labor leader during a rally for workers' rights, the federation has called on its 820,000 members to join an indefinite general strike beginning Thursday. It is pressuring the government to fire Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan and other labor officials including Lee Won-duck, the senior presidential aide in charge of labor affairs. The second-largest Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has joined the FKTU in the campaign to change the government's labor lineup.   - Questions   Q1. Do you agree on this strike and they are doing right thing in this peak season for airlines? Q2. In fact this terrible situation of strike of two korean airlines are already reported aboad, what kind reaction from other countries would you expect in terms of repuation, reliabilty as a transportation and services especially? Q3. what would you do If you are facing this situaion ? let say you are pilots or flight attendants       8 Out of 10 Internet Users Prefer Real Names   Eight out of 10 users of the Internet (netizens) support use of their real names instead of using identities such as nicknames when they make posting on the Web. That finding, announced yesterday by the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), reflects growing concern over cyber criminals using false names on the Internet. The ministry and Yahoo.co.kr, one of leading Internet portals in Korea, conducted the online survey jointly. “The same survey, conducted with another major portal Naver.com, showed a similar result, with 65 percent of those surveyed preferring to use their real names on the Web,” a ministry official said. In the survey with portal Dreamwiz.co.kr, which has the most opponents against using real names on the Internet, 57 percent of respondents advocated the adoption of using real names, while 37 percent resisted using their real names. Those survey results came after the ministry announced last Friday that it will take measures to crack down on cyber crimes through the introduction of an Internet real-name system by October. On the day before the announcement, Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan also raised the question of adopting the real-name system in a debate over policies with government officials. The controversial system requires netizens to display their real name, as well as to resister their citizenship number, when they make postings on the Web. The government’s determination to adopt the Internet real-name system is strong because the number of victims who fall prey to cyber crimes is rapidly increasing. Cyber crime has emerged as a key social issue in Korea, the world’s most wired country. According to the police, the number of cyber crimes reported surpassed 2 million in 2004, up from 1.65 million in 2003 and 1.19 million in 2002. The nation's entertainment industry was shocked last January by the release on the Web of a confidential report containing unconfirmed allegations about the sex and drug habits of top movie and TV stars. The 113-page document, written by top advertising agency Cheil Communications for internal use, was believed to have been released on the Web by an employee of Cheil's research contractor. Immediately after the release, the documents were rapidly disseminated or shared over the Internet. The celebrities mentioned in the report were outraged, but countermeasures have yet to be taken. In another disturbing incident, an unidentified woman in mid May gained the attention of millions of Internet users after a picture of her failing to clean up her dog's feces in a subway train was posted on the Internet. Her photo was immediately ranked as the most searched item on major Web portals such as Daum and Naver. Many anonymous Internet users accused her of ignoring public morality and made inappropriate comments about her. Despite these recent controversies, the government will face difficulties in pushing ahead with the introduction of the Internet real-name system because it is opposed by privacy advocates. The government-affiliated National Human Rights Commission said in an official report to the National Assembly that the real-name system should not apply to Internet boards. "This system presupposes that all citizens posting their opinions are spreaders of false information or slander; thus it clearly qualifies as pre-censorship and restricts freedom of Internet-based expression‎ rooted in anonymity," it said. "The real-name system would be broadly applied without obtaining individuals' consent before collecting their personal information, thus it could violate privacy rights guaranteed in the constitution," the commission said in the report. Chae Seon-joo, a spokeswoman of NHN, the company running naver.com, also said it is not realistic for users of the Internet to use their real names for every posting they make on the Web. "The online survey results came mainly because of a series of recent problems triggered by cyber violence," she said by telephone. "If we think about another situation in which privacy issues are raised, I think the result may be different," she added. In a related development, outside Korea, Georgia, a state of the U.S., allegedly legislated a similar Internet law that criminalized the use of anonymous messages in online communications, but the Federal Court ruled it unconstitutional.     - QUESTIONS   1. Do you have any experience to be damaged by the anonymity of internet? Or your friends have it? 2. What do you think about the incident '개똥녀' - the woman who didn't clean up her dog's shit? - Someone uploaded her picture on the web, and Most people got to know her. Do you think that person who upload her picture is right? He would not have uploaded that picture? 3. What are good things and bad things in the real-name system? 4. Do you agree with this real-name system on internet? 5. Do have any better solution to keep damages from anonymity of internet?