<The government and the Grand National Party should listen to cries of irregular workers>

<The government and the Grand National Party should listen to cries of irregular workers>

 

On June 25, 2009, in front of the government building at the Kwangwhamoon, Women’s Action for Decent Lives and Jobs (WADLJ) held a press conference to emphasize that the government and the Grand National Party, the ruling party should stop the 3 year deferment of the Temporary Employee Protection Act which they have proposed, because it pushes irregular workers into far deeper abyss of despair. Currently, the Grand National Party claims that the 3 year deferment of the Temporary Employee Protection Act should be an alternative for dismissed irregular workers, but that is against all reason.  Rather, the public sector which should have taken the lead in the regularization of irregular workers, has attempted to dismiss irregular workers. The government is like a parent who discards a malformed newborn baby.

 

Lee Kangsil, chairperson of Women Corea clarified that the government should do its best but to regularize irregular workers not to spend money polluting the 4 major rivers in Korea, saying “the government needs only 2,400 billion won even if the government provides the subsidiary of regularization for 334,700 irregular workers who are targeted by the Temporary Employee Protection Act” in her address. She was followed by Park Namhee, the president of KWTU who questioned the role of the government, condemning “comprehensive measures for irregular workers in the public sector have all disappeared”.

 

Kim Hyo-sook, Korea Broadcasting Station (KBS) union president for fix-term workers asked why they have to be fired, saying “what we know is that we have worked hard for KBS”. After that, full text of the conference was read.  The government and the Grand National Party should clearly recognize this: when killing the livelihood of irregular workers and common people, the nation cannot stand solidly.

 

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Full Text of Press Conference >>>

 

The government and Grand National Party, listen to the cries of irregular workers.

 

The Grand National Party has decided to make a proposal to amend the Temporary Employee Protection Act to defer for three years, the application of the clause regarding ‘the 2 year period of use of the irregular workers,’ just before the completion of the two years since the enforcement of the law. Moreover, the Minister of Strategy and Finance has ignored the right to survive for workers, saying he would ‘improve the flexibility in the labor market more adequately and properly,” or “expansion measures of dispatched workers are under consideration.”

 

The Temporary Employee Protection Act aims to prevent the abuse of irregular workers and reform discriminations against irregular workers.  In spite of many arguments and disagreements, the law was made to improve the reality of Korean irregular workers who are characterized as their insecure employment and low wages. Initially, although the labor demanded to limit the reasons of using irregular workers, the government persisted in the limitation to only the duration, and further it viewed it as possible for the government to stop the user from using irregular workers for the purpose of cheap labor, through the introduction of discrimination correction system for irregular workers. Now, the government changed its initial stance: the current government ignores its basic goals.  A law is a social promise and a norm. The government usually emphasizes the importance of constitutionalism, but why is its application often different at its convenience!

 

It is proper role of the government that preventing in advance, companies from dismissing irregular workers whose periods of use are 2 years and that encouraging the regularization of irregular workers. However, the government ignores the cries of 8.8 million irregular workers and only meets the demands of companies.  That countermeasures have disappeared is true in the public sector that should exemplify the upgrading of irregular workers to regular workers. Comprehensive measures for irregular workers in the public sector are just nominal: finance and human resources have disappeared.

 

In addition, what happened in KBS, the public broadcasting service? It is shameful that KBS dismissed 222 contract workers and employed 159 workers into its subsidiary company. This means that KBS has given up its title as the public broadcasting.  How can the company treat and generate public interests although it ignore social tasks and dispose workers like disposable products?

 

This is a piece of iceberg. Today, irregular workers suffer from the threat of dismissals and receive low wages.  Because there is no solid social safety net, workers have to worry about their livelihood if they are unemployed. In this situation, the government and the Grand National Party only concerned for the interests of companies drives the lives of most civilians into extreme distress.

 

The pillars of a nation are not companies or the government, either, but workers working hard and common people who leading a sincere life in the forefront of livelihood. Recently, monthly wage gaps between regular workers and irregular workers are 506,000 won.  Even though the government supports 50% of the cost for transferring and upgrading to regular workers, 334,700 irregular workers who are targeted for the upgrading, it spends only 2400 billion won for two years. It takes just 1/10 of the budget for maintaining the 4 major rivers in Korea that the current government insists and it is also only 1/10 of the decreased annual taxes because of the reduction for the rich.

 

The government should take measures to consolidate effectiveness of the act. In order to solidify the effectiveness of the discrimination correction system, the main body for the correction should be expanded to labor unions and specialist groups, and further, all working conditions should be dealt with, and target for the comparison should be expanded to workers with equal pay for job of equal value. The government should provide measures to prevent massive dismissals using the Temporary Employee Protection Act as an excuse. Standards for equal pay for job of equal value (the introduction of gender-sensitive job evaluation models and guidelines) should be prepared.

 

It is not late. It is time to listen up the cries of irregular workers.  The government should listen to 99% of common people rather than just 1% rich people.  To save irregular workers is the way for Korea to lead a proper life and flourish.

 

Our demands

1. The Grand National Party should withdraw immediately the 3 year deferment of the Temporary Employee Protection Act!

1. Provide 2,400 billion won for the transferring of irregular workers to regular workers and fulfill it immediately!

1. Consolidate effectiveness of the act!

1. Take measures for irregular workers in the public sector.

 

                                                 June 25, 2009

 

                                           Women’s Action for Decent Lives and Jobs