On August 12 two Korean female workers will have been on a hunger strike for 62 days. When fired about 3 years ago due to their union organizing activities, they had worked at Kiryung Electronics which exports 100% of their products to Sirius Satellite Radio in the United States.

In July 2005 about 200 “dispatched” temporary workers, who were mostly women and paid a penny more than the monthly minimum wage, and who worked 60-70 hours a week to make ends meet, organized a union after winning in a law suit against Kiryung Electronics for its illegal practice in its operation of the dispatched workers. The company answered back with installing CCTVs and putting the workers under surveillance, moving workers around between departments to destroy workers solidarity, and refusing to sign contracts with several workers. Within a month, the workers launched a strike demanding full-time employment, to which the company responded by firing all of them.

The workers have been organizing all kinds of struggles to regain their employment: Sit-in and a protest on top of a 100 feet-high CCTV tower as well as picketing in front of the company buildings. Some of them even dramatically built a raised plastic tent dwelling place on a utility pole on a big street near the company building and lived in it in order to publicize their struggle.

Nevertheless, after almost 3 years of fighting, in June of 2008 only 35 workers remained who subsequently decided to launch a hunger strike when the company withdrew from the tentative agreement that would guarantee full-time employment after a year of rehiring. While most of the hunger strikers were hauled to a hospital or backed off from the struggle, two workers are still refusing to give up and intensifying their struggle by cutting their salt and enzyme intake on August 12.

Kiryung Electronics argues that the manufacturing line will be moved into China and thus cannot re-hire the workers. The New Progressive Party, which has organized supporting hunger protests and rallies for the workers, seeks solidarity with U.S. workers. Email to Sirius Satellite Radio (customer-relations@sirius-radio.com) and reveal the situation of the workers of its Korean supplier. Send protest messages to Kiryung by calling 82-2-3282-2200 or by fax to 82-2-864-1672. For supporting messages to the workers, email to newjinbo@gmail.com.