[vol.26] special2_"Help people like us to receive some treatment too"

"Help people like us to receive some treatment too"- a situational survey of contract agency women workers
at a university hospital -

Moon, Soon-mie   counselor, Gwangju Branch of the Hotline for Equality

Avoiding the Eyes of the Management
It was only April but the heat workplace employer. A system should be set up to hold workplace employers and contract agencies accountable for any violations in the legal minimum wage standards as the wages of workers are decreasing below the standards required by law due to over-competitive tender bids which lower the unit price of labor of contract workers, ipso facto, lower wages. And unless such a system is set up the practices of illegal wage standards would continue.
Other measures would be the strengthening of administrative supervision allowing irregular workers to participate and supervise in the inquiry commissions and to reform the exceptions in the application of the minimum wage standards on short-term contract workers, Workers working less than 6 months and are 18 years of age, the disabled, apprentices, and occupational trainees.  
reminded me of the hot summer days. I had received permission from the union to carry out my research on contract agency workers working as janitors and cooks in our regional university hospital. With the help of the union, I had no trouble visiting the workplace and meeting the management in charge. The management answered questions put forward but refused to give their permission when I proposed to meet the workers.
Avoiding the eyes of the management, I met women workers who were enjoying a late meal after finishing their duties in serving meals. The women looked annoyed at the interruption of their meals. Putting on a big smile, I said to them, ‘Hello. I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'm from the Gwangju Women Workers' Association’and handed out the ball-pens I had brought as gifts and explained to them the purpose of my visit.
Some of the women complimented on our work and the atmosphere warmed a little. We talked a little on the problems and measures needed on the minimum wage issue but when I started on the questionnaires, some of the women showed signs of hesitation, worrying about their jobs. The older the women were, the more worried they became about their jobs. It took a particularly longer time to persuade the contracted janitors. They took me to their dressing room as they were worried that they might miss their calls. The dressing room was in reality a store for broken chairs and beds but was used as a resting place as well. With inborn charm(?), I explained the reality of irregular women workers who were unable to find their legal rights. The women started to cooperate and as the questions continued, the women became more responsive and started talking about their own personal problems and frustrations.

High Labor Intensity But Low Wages
I counseled them on the specific allowances, working conditions and unfair practices contained in the pay check. The wages came up to a total of 500,000 to 550,000 won including all allowances and the women were in working in 2 or 3 shifts. We exchanged much information on low wages and wage increases, recess time and resting places.
The situation of the contracted janitors were serious. The work started at 5 am and most of the women started work on empty stomachs. The hospital wards had to be cleaned more than a few times each day and the women were particularly tired from the cleaning that has to be undertaken one or twice weekly using disinfectants. The day I visited was one of those days of cleaning with disinfectants. The women were mostly in their 50s and 60s and it pained me to see them sweating under such a heavy work load.

Wage Increases Urgently Needed
The wages of women in their mid-50s with 5 years of working experience as janitors received a monthly stipend of 520,000 won. Incredibly, this was the exact amount received by other women janitors who had worked for 10 years or even just a month. These women received less than the legal minimum wage but were not provided with any meals or refreshments. These women janitors packed two meal boxes a day (one for breakfast and the other for lunch).
The women workers said that the most urgent changes needed were wage increases and the provision of lunches. One woman smiled bitterly saying that there was nothing left over after transportation and meal expenses. Her husband was dead and her children have been dismissed from their work in 1998 due to company bankruptcy and are still looking for stable employment. As they are in difficult straits themselves, she felt that she could not, as a parent, impose on them for help.
One 46-year old woman said that her husband was bed-ridden with terminal cancer and her 17-year old daughter suffering from congenital disability and worried over the increasing hospital and medical expenses. Her monthly wage of 420,000 won could in no way cover the expenses and after going home from work around half past five, she would leave for another dishwashing job after looking briefly into her husband and daughter. This was still not enough to cover all her husband's medication expenses and she said that her husband was just counting his days. Her daughter had no opportunity for surgery.
20 years of cleaning have roughened the hands of the 50-year old women which have become senseless even to hot objects; backs have become bent under the heavy burden of cleaning. The protestations of the women workers such as "I wish they would just provide us with some rice. I am so tired of bringing sour kimchi and rice every morning. I bring it because I have to eat something to do this heavy work but I really wish I did not have to" still ring in my ears as I write this.
I held tightly to the hand of the woman who bought me a cup of coffee from the vending machine and who said that‘The KWWAU must work hard and help people like us to get some treatment.’Outside the hospital, the sun was too brilliant and I closed my eyes.