[4/11] TOPIC : Labor Union goes on Strike

[Aidan(김홍건)]

MBC’s labor union goes on strike

April 06, 2010

	MBC labor union members raise clenched fists as they demand the resignation of the broadcaster’s president, Kim Jae-chul, at company headquarters in Yeouido, western Seoul, yesterday. [YONHAP]

MBC’s labor union went on strike yesterday to demand that the broadcaster’s newly appointed president, Kim Jae-chul, step down.

Union members including anchors at MBC’s prime-time “News Desk” and other journalists refused to work from 6 a.m. Non-union reporters and anchors temporarily handled TV and radio programs for the nation’s second-largest broadcasting company.

The union’s public relations director, Yeon Bo-heum, said the strike was meant to keep the public broadcaster free of political influence.

“Kim broke a promise to the labor union and appointed Hwang Hee-man, a special member of the board of directors, as MBC’s vice president, and he hasn’t yet filed a libel suit against Kim U-ryong, the former chairman of the Foundation for Broadcast Culture,” Yeon said.

In an interview with the monthly magazine Shindonga in February, Kim U-ryong said high-ranking officials in the Blue House played a role in determining MBC’s management and that the MBC president was also involved.

MBC President Kim Jae-chul demanded Kim U-ryong’s resignation and said he would sue him for libel.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor issued a press release calling the strike illegal, and warning union members that they could face legal consequences. “The appointment of the vice president has nothing to do with the union members’ working conditions, and staging a strike to say they’re against it is clearly illegal,” the press release read.

Kwon Hyeok-tae, a senior official of the ministry’s union-management dispute division, said MBC’s strike is not protected under the labor law and is “an obstruction of business.”

The board of directors of the Foundation for Broadcast Culture in February selected Kim Jae-chul, a veteran journalist and then-head of the MBC Cheongju station, to replace Ohm Ki-young on Feb. 26. Ohm resigned in protest of the board’s decision to appoint key MBC executives he had not recommended.

When Kim tried to enter the station headquarters in Yeouido on March 2, MBC union members protested his appointment and physically blocked him from walking into his office. The union members said Kim being named to the post was a “political parachute appointment,” a Korean insult indicating cronyism.

TOPIC 4.11.docx

Questions)

1.     Do you agree with the necesseties of labor union? Why?

2.     Have you seen demonstration of labor union like mentioned in the article? How did you feel when you saw it?

3.     Do you think demonstration can be good way of showing labor union’s will? Why?

4.     In the article, strike was meant to keep the public broadcaster free of political influence. Do you think this opinion is true? Or not? If so, describe such examples except one above-mentioned in the article.

5.     What can be other good ways to avoid having such a demonstration? What should be prepared in advance for them?

6.     If you have some objections, do you have any will to join in labor union? What kind of way are you going to use for showing objections?

처음으로 올리는 건데 좀 막연한 주제일지도 모르겠네요...;

이번주 갈 수 있을지 없을지는 좀 막막하지만... 어찌되었던 자주 참여할게요.^^

그럼 좋은 일주일 보내세요 ㅋㅋ

[Christine(안연희)]

이번주 토픽은 모두 무게감이 있네요.. 잘~ 읽겠습니다. 님도 한 주 잘 보내시길~^^

[scott(박범석)]

오~ 시사관련 간만에!!^^ 토픽 올리느라 수고 많으셨습니다^^~ 이번주도 뵙기를 희망하며^^~

[Nicole(박노영)]

토픽 감사해요 ^^* 어렵겠다는 ㅠ_ㅜ

[JOSH(이성일)]

과연 저 파업을 지지해야 할까요? 아님 반대? 혼자 또 완전 고심중...ㅋㅋ 오랜만에 시사 토픽~ 일욜에 봐용!! 토픽 감솨합니다^^

[Daunte]

토픽 고맙습니다 감기조심하세요 굿럭 쿨럭쿨럭

[cindy(장인경)]

미치게따.. 굿럭 쿨럭쿨럭.. 역시 단테 오빠 조크~ 굿뜨~