Statement
Korean women workers have become the first target for discriminatory restructuring caused by the economic crisis and the IMF bailout. In addition, most of them have experienced employment insecurity because they are employed as temporary and contractual workers.
They are dismissed in the pretext that they are old, their wages have been cut, and they have experienced much pressure by the company to leave their jobs, because they are married, pregnant, or have delivered babies.
In particular, it has become viewed as natural that much older irregular workers receive unfair treatment, and women workers are faced by the reality where their basic right to work and equality between men and women, which should be protected by law, has been largely ignored.
We, women workers cannot ignore this unfair reality any more. In this economic crisis we found the achievement women workers have struggled for is unattainable if we do not fight with organized efforts.
We will do our best to unite and strengthen women workers across the nation, and so we will fight strongly to obtain employment security, maternity protection and the right to work.
We demand the following :
1. Make comprehensive labor laws and social security laws for all working women, regardless of their employment status.
2. Extend protection of the Labor Standard Law to workers in small size companies with less than 4 workers.
3. Insure regular jobs to irregular workers. Also, regulate and monitor labor practices for a higher number of workers who have worked on an irregular basis.
4. Create jobs in the public sector and implement affirmative action to expand women's employment.
5. Shorten working hours and implement the three labor laws.
6. Increase the minimum wage 50% on average in all industries and apply it to all companies.
7. Provide affirmative measures to remove gender discrimination, verbal harassment and other violence against women.
8. Increase maternity leave to 90 days and protect costs related to maternity protection as a social security.
9. Secure all women's employment during their maternity leaves especially after childbirth, and implement income-supporting policies.
10. Expand and strengthen social welfare centers, and increase social welfare related expenditure.
11. Strengthen administration and monitoring for working women.We will strongly struggle for these demands to be realized. Additionally, we will carry out strong and active campaigns to obtain legal rights for irregular women workers. We will resolve to strengthen unite and organize unorganized women workers.
Dated March 5, 2000
Participants in the Korean Women Workers' Rally
Korea Working Women's Network 2000