Thousands of South Korean police blocked a protest rally by unionists condemning a labor crackdown by the government at failed Daewoo Motor Co. here Wednesday.
Scuffles continued near the rally site of Pupyong railway station plaza in the western city of Inchon as hundreds of protesters were driven away or taken to a nearby police station by some 5,000 riot police.
The unions' request to hold the protest rally until March 10 was rejected by the government fearing further possible violence.
But some 200 workers accompanied by their families showed up at the rally site which was already occupied by riot police who turned them away by force.
On Tuesday, angry unionists hurled fire bombs and torched a police vehicle during a clash with security forces near Daewoo Motor's Pupyong plant.
The violence followed Monday's police crackdown on laid-off Daewoo Motor workers, who had staged a three-day sit-in protest inside the factory of the bankrupt carmaker seeking a drastic restructuring.
Police said they arrested two unionists, including Daewoo Motor union spokesman Choi Jong-Hak, Wednesday who were among 84 protesters detained by police during the crackdown two days ago.
An aged woman, shouting "a job back to my son" at Daewoo Motor, wielded a stick at police forming human barricades, while other protesters exchanged kicks and blows with security forces before being arrested.
Daewoo Motor has axed a total of 6,884 employees, a third of its domestic payroll, with the government and its creditors tempting General Motors Corp. and Italy's Fiat to takeover talks for the firm.
The South Korean automaker has been in crisis since the collapse of the Daewoo Group in August 1999 with 80 billion dollars of debt -- INCHON, South Korea (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
