[vol.16] [VOICES FROM WORKPLACES] Structural Adjustment, Lay-off, and Labor Rights for Women
WORKING WOMAN 2008. 3. 21. 10:40Lee, Heh-soon (head of women's department of KCTU)
- Structural adjustment for lay-offs
Women workers of the KFSB were shouting their demands in the first rally for women's employment security and women's umemployment prevention
Structural adjustment is now operating in full-swing in the workplace.. At Hyundai Motors the conflict between management and labor is one regarding laying-off workers or not. However, basic principles such as the attempt to avoid lay-offs and engage in sincere negotiations with trade unions are being distorted,. Thus, we doubt that the current restructuring plans will lead to reform.
Until late July, 873 cases involving 1,610 workers were judged as being unfairly dismissed, amongst those reported to the labor committee or those sued in local labor offices. The figures are 4.5 times higher than those during the same period last year.
If unfair labour practices such as failure to pay back wages are included, the figures total 55,216 cases which are two times higher than those last year (HanKyoReh Daily, 19 August, 1998). Under the pretext of structural adjustment companies are engaging in lay-offs and unfair labor practices. In this current situation, democracy in the workplace is being seriously attacked.
'PARADISE,' a paradise of lay-offs
Let's look at the case of the Paradise Beach Hotel to examine how lay-offs have affected workers. The Hotel laid off 320 workers (about 60%) out of the total workforce of 520 between February and March this year. Management simply waved off dismissed workers and then re-hired the same dismissed women householders.
Protests by the Pusan Women's Association and active actions taken by the workers managed to stop the illegal dismissals, but their contracts will expire in February 1999. Conflicts over the dismissal of 100 workers still remains unsettled, so they are continuing their protests by setting up the dismissed workers' re-employment struggle committee.
- Cutting women's jobs by shutting down female-dominated departments!
By carefully looking at individual workplaces, we can see that women's jobs have been reduced by company restructuring plans that shut down female-dominated departments.
Shutting down a female-dominated department at the Korean Federation of Small Businesses (KFSB)!
The first incident occurred at the Korean Federation of Small Businesses (KFSB) whose trade unions are affiliated with KCTU. Last June 25, its detailed restructuring plan targeted women workers who composed of 20% amongst 80 workers (including 23 contractual workers whose contracts were expired).
They closed the Dept. of General Affairs where many women workers are concentrated. This means that 91.8% of women out of the whole workforce of 61 women were targeted for lay-offs. Moreover, the company planned to re-employ some of them as contractual workers.
The KFSB divides workers by tasks: general, specialised, clerical assistant, and technical. 99% women workers are ranked in the lowest division. The clerical assistant division, for example, is made up of 33 women and one man. Clerical assistants do work for the general division as well as manual and miscellaneous things.
The company claimed that 'women are typists just serving coffees, and answering telephones.' Just because they are women, they have to work the lowest level jobs under harsh and discriminatory working conditions. Now they are also being unfairly dismissed.
`The trade union protested the one-sided restructuring. They argued that no negotiation took place with the union nor did management attempt to avoid dismissals. Thus, they went on strike. On last 29 July, after a 40 day struggle, an agreement was eventually reached.
In the process, the union agreed to close the clerical assistant division and all the women workers were retired. Currently, some of them are protesting against their status of being put on the waiting list.
Korea Telecom cutting public services
Korea Telecom has already started to charge customer for its free-call services, in spite of strong resistances from its trade union and NGOs. The trade union carried out struggles against the policy.
Those who usually use the services are handicapped, soldiers, students studying away from home, and unemployed householders. In addition, it is not right to change its policy due to increasingg profitability, especially when many people have been negatively affected by a flood this past summer and it is a public corporatation. Since it is difficult to argue that restructuring has only affected women, I think the union's approach is more appropriate to handle the issue.
In the jobs involved, an overwhelming majority of workers were married women workers (231 married women work amongst 239 workers). Initially, the company promised that they would reallocate tasks after a 6 week training period, but after negotiations with the union, the training duration was shortened to 4 weeks.
However, since the education sites are in Kimhae and Najoo which is quite far from Seoul (and they have to stay in dormitories for the training) and all of their reallocated jobs cannot be located in Seoul, it is expected that all of these married women will not continue to work.
Hence, the trade union should raise the issue of women's unstable employment, as a consequence of the wrong decision made by the company in their demands for reviving the free-call services.
'Hyundai Auto' workers raged at the policy for subcontracting its canteens
Last 24 August, the management and trade union agreed to with the government's suggestions that laying off the total number of 170 women workers working at its canteens should be minimized. For the last 10 years the trade union has stopped the company's attempts to subcontract the operation of its canteens.
The working conditions of subcontracted canteens are very harsh. Their basic wages comprise only 50% of those of workers who are employed in canteens of the company. Laying off women workers working at the canteens means that the company will most likely subcontract canteen work. Further, the company will use this as an excuse for future lay-offs in industrial relations.
These 170 women workers stood united until they obtained the victory. The trade union also kept to its basic principle that their employment should be maintained. In the finalized agreements the trade union shall run canteens for the following 5 years; the company shall provide compensation pay equivalent to 9 month-wages, continue paying their wages until the ownership is transferred; and the company shall put its efforts to employ workers and their spouses, who were already were retired by force.
- Turning point between rises and falls of women workers' basic rights
Restructuring adjustment in Korea has just started. By August the government's plan to finalize public restructuring and second financial sector restructuring will take place. Then, the government will carry out a series of plans in relation to restructuring adjustment: to decide conditionally approved banks and restructure five chaebols; to improve management styles in security companies; and to enact and amend laws and acts related to restructuring in the National Assembly.
In this process, basic workers' rights and our livelihood are projected to be illegally threatened. Our family systems will be torn. Our future will be lost, if we cannot firmly stop illegal attempts by the capitalists and structural changes toward democracy in our society cannot be achieved. In addition, how strongly women workers' rights at this point can be defended will be a determinant of status of women workers in the future.
We live in an era in which labor rights, a basic human right are largelybeing intimidated. We also live in a world in which endless competition and mass production is intensifying and the poor classes are expanding. How can we change the values and aims of this era? Can positive points of feminity actively contribute to changing his current economic turmoil?