Eric Lee's Archive 
Eric Lee is the founding editor of LabourStart, the news and campaigning website of the international trade union movement.
Ronald Reagan delivers an ultimatum to air traffic controllers in a press conference. Photo: White House Photo Office
In the labour movement we’re often fond of our history. We preserve certain traditions, we celebrate some holidays, we even have museums displaying our union banners and old pamphlets. Our past inspires us.
We don’t tend to think of union-busters sharing in some kind of nostalgia, but they do – and it sometimes shows up in odd ways.
Unions that want to communicate with their members using the new technologies face a problem. And the problem is that we don’t actually know very much about how our members use the Internet.
Of course there are general surveys and studies which show that masses of people use Facebook and Twitter, that smartphones and tablets have come to replace desktop PCs as a way to access the Net – but is that the case for union members?
KGEU president Kim Jungnam collapses during his 16 day hunger strike
South Korea’s progress from dictatorship to democracy has not been an easy or straightforward one, as the recent Presidential election has shown. The good news was that for the first time in history, the Koreans had elected a woman, Park Guenhye, to lead their country. The bad news is that she’s the daughter of the former dictator, Park Chung-hee, who ruled the country from 1963 to 1979.
Another indication of the uneven character of the transition to democracy as been the ongoing fight by trade unions for recognition and rights. One of the Korean unions still fighting for the most basic kind of recognition is the Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU).
Eric Lee
