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Labor deal reached after FineTek workers' sit-in protest atop smokestack
By YonhapPublished : Jan. 11, 2019 - 11:31
The labor union of FineTek, a maker of display equipment, and the management reached a labor deal Friday after two workers staged a sit-in on top of a smokestack at a power plant for more than a year in protest of layoffs.
Two of five FineTek unionized workers had been waging the protest atop the 75-meter smokestack at a combined heat and power plant in west Seoul for about 14 months, calling on the management to keep its promise on job security.
The workers went on a hunger strike last week as well, raising concerns about their health.
The labor deal will allow five workers to work again at a factory of FineTek, a subsidiary of Starflex, a manufacturer of plastic films.
The agreement also calls for guaranteeing their job security for at least three years and providing the minimum hourly pay set for 2019 plus 1,000 won ($0.89).
"We will decide how to bring them back to the ground safely and fast by taking into account the condition of the two workers on the hunger strike," a group supportive of the FineTek workers said.
The workers' 426-day sit-in, the longest protest atop a smokestack in the country's history, followed a similar protest staged by a FineTek worker at a factory smokestack in the southeastern city of Gumi for 408 days between 2014 and 2015.
Their labor strife traced back to 2010, when Star Chemical, a chemical company under Starflex's wing, bought a now-defunct textile processing firm where the five employees previously worked.
The parent company decided to sell a Star Chemical factory and liquidate the company as Star Chemical posted a net loss in 2011-2012. During the process, Starflex fired around 20 workers, including the five who refused to join voluntary retirement.
The initial sit-in in 2014-15 ended after Starflex agreed to reinstate workers at FineTek, a newly created firm. But later the company did not keep its promise, prompting the workers to start another new smokestack rally in November 2017. (Yonhap)
