[March 15th] CULTURAL FESTIVAL FOR FAMILIES OF STRIKING WORKERS 

"We Want to Come Back to Work" was the name of a cultural festival held in
front of Daewoo Motor's rental apartments in Kajeong-dong.  Organized by the
Family Counterplan Committee, the festival presented the ongoing struggle of
the Daewoo auto workers to the other families in the apartment in the hope
that they will join the struggle, and to also raise the spirits of workers
and their families.  Throughout the evening, committee members felt a strong
unity among the crowd, which strengthened their resolve to stop the mass
layoffs and protect their right to live. 

The festival began with a "kilnori" (parade) by a "pungmulpae" (Korean
traditional percussion instrument music band).  Next was an exciting
performance by Daewoo Motor's singing group and comrade Park Jun.  The
singing and dancing gave way to a story told by a woman, whose husband, a
member of Daewoo Motor's Trade Union, survived the layoff.  Her husband is
now working under surveillance by the management and the riot police.  She
added, "All workers, both laid-off and those still working like my husband,
are all one, and should stick together and continue to struggle to solve this
urgent situation." 

Afterwards, a film about the struggle against Daewoo was shown. It made the
participants solemn and tearful. In a scene in which the riot police
appeared, a child shouted, "Bad men!" And in the scene where the riot police
were violently beating demonstrators, the audience became infuriated.  They
then shouted "Away With You!" to policemen in civilian clothes lingering
around the festival site, who them promptly left.  Watching the scene in
which police were taking workers, one child asked his father, "Dad, have you
been taken by the police to the police station?"  His father answered, "Yes,
two times."  Everyone was in tears at the scene in which a gray-haired old
mother, grabbing the Minister of Labor, exclaimed "No Layoffs!" One father,
who was caught by the riot police, cried out when he was separated from his
son.  In the scene where the police violently hit a woman with a baby on her
back, incensed viewers shouted, "You Son of a Bitch!" 

The festival closed with everyone singing traditional Korean protest songs
such as "Like a Rock" and "Strike Song."  People marched in a circle with
candles in their hands and fireworks exploding in the sky, their tearful
voices for strength and solidarity flowing into the Kajeong-dong night sky.