[vol.27] Feature_Pro-Women Proposals for the Empowerment of Women Workers

Pro-Women Proposals for the Empowerment of Women Workers

Lee, Ju-hwan ● Secretary-General, Korean Women's Trade Union

Last August 29 in conjunction with the 2nd anniversary of the launching of the Korean Women's Trade Union (KWTU), a debate was held on the‘Pro-Women Proposals for the Empowerment of Women Workers.' The debate was based on an eight-month long research by the researchers of the Korea Women workers' Association United (KWWAU) and the Korean Women's Trade Union (KWTU). At the debate, discussions took place on the concrete measures to increase the organizational level of women workers which has remained at 6%.  A summary of the debate is presented here in this issue of the「Working Women」.

1. Research Background

As of July 2001, 49.6% of women are involved in some form of economic activity, this being 41.4% of the total population who undertake some of economic activity and 41.7% is the rate of women in the total work force.*
However, even though the number of women in the workforce is big, women are still being marginalized and pressured into irregular work.
Although the importance of organizing women workers has been stressed, there has been no progress in the debate for finding methods for organizing. Accordingly, the development of organizational methods, culture and environment for organizing irregular women workers must be brought forward.

2. General Characteristics of Women Workers in the Process of Organization

To organize women workers, the reality of the women's lives, their social experience, interests, values, attitudes towards their lives, their required roles and other general characteristics of women must be taken into consideration and how these characteristics be reflected during the organization of these women.
Some notable general characteristics of women workers in the research can be summarized as follows:

□ Importance of relationships.
“We all talked about how we had lived our lives and this was not easy. We have our pride and we don't want to look bad. We sat round talking about our lives and after you listen to other people talk, you change your mind. I was not the only one having a difficult time. So after just one meeting, we all became very good friends (Kwon Soon-hee).”
As the work delegated to women were poorly paid with little chances of promotions and considered miniscule, women concentrated more on social relationships in the workplace rather than trying to increase knowledge or skills needed for work promotions. According to organizers at Harvard university, most women build relationships and consider maintaining such relationships with importance and use these relationships as a strategy. This led to the successful building of a strong union in the university where almost all clerical workers were female.

□ Difference in Resolving Tensions and Strife - Importance in maintaining relationships
At the advent of tension or strife within an organization, men leaders will try to suppress such tension while women leaders will try to compromise, in favor of all the parties involved. So in terms of tension or strife, women do not stress the principles and regulations only but prefer to find ways to maintain relationships and select ways beneficial to everyone. Such characteristics of women appear as flexible methods of struggle.  

Debate on the Women-Friendly Organizational Methods (Aug. 29. 2001)

□ Working Women, Mother, Wife, Daughter - Multiple identities
“Women are interested in union activities, rallies, events, etc but what they are really interested in is things like‘she just had a baby.’Knowing more concrete details about union members means more sharing. (Kim Mi-sook).”
Men have the tendency to identify themselves with their work but women tend to accept not only their role as workers but also other diverse roles as mothers, wives, daughters, etc. So to organize women, the reality of women and their lifestyles must be reflected and methods use to break down barriers between the private and the public spheres in their lives.

□ Preference of close relationships
“I first thought of the union as a place which resolves labor relations and to go to if I face problems. But now, it is a place where I can go and exchange opinions about problems in the workplace as well as in the society. (Kim Mi-sook).”
Generally, women show the tendency of preferring informal and close relationships. Women have been socialized from a young age in small groups and feel more comfortable about sharing their stories in such an environment. So it is important in the process of organizing women workers, to create an environment where women can make their voices heard on every day matters.

□ Difference in Leadership - Organizing from the Center
“In reality, there is an organizational structure but everything is decided through discussions. It's not like as if there are different people for making decisions and different people for carrying them out. I realized what working together is through our discussions. I realized that I was an important part of the union (Kim Mi-sook).”
According to a research by Sally Helgesen in 1990, women lead not from the top but from the center. That is, the leader remains at the center linking different teams together. Hierarchy is not important but connections are. So in the case of women, emphasizing such points would be significant. Furthermore, women who shy away from leadership roles must be trained to carry out bigger roles of leadership representation.

□ Organization needed for building self-esteem and influence
“I think it was at last March 8 Women's Day rally. I made the pickets and brought them to the rally. Everyone praised me for the pickets, wondering how I could have made them on my own. Everyone said something nice and it really help me boost my self-esteem on hearing those comments. Now I really like doing things (Moon Gyong-sook).”
People who have been organizing women have discovered that women with lower social status and little influence often suffer from hopelessness and a low self-esteem. It is important that such hopelessness and low self-esteem be overcome.  So it is important for women, blacks, homosexuals, and native peoples to build up their inner strength to be organized and to make their voices heard. A positive self-esteem and self confidence must be developed. This inner strength will not remain within but will help other people through social interactions and expand into social and political actions. So, the strategy for increasing self-esteem and developing abilities to foster the growth of group influence is an important step in the organization of women.

3. Characteristics of the Activities of the KWTU

The KWTU encompasses many of the general characteristics of women outlined in the above. Such characteristics can be noticed in the review of the two-year activities of the KWTU in efforts to maximize the organization of women.
Due to unemployment instability and the status of workers due to frequent job transfers, individual union members find it difficult to become a continuing part of groups according to occupation, issues or branches. So the structure and contents of meetings or groups must become flexible to meet such circumstances and diverse programs and events like‘Union Member's Day' , ‘Union Member's Camp’, ‘campaigns’, `outings’, `sports meets’, etc, must be held to enhance member participation.
On operational matters, work is divided among members. It is important to support and make members realize that the roles they are undertaking are important. For example at the members' camp prepared by the Steering Committee of the Incheon branch, all preparations such as recreation, food preparation, car rentals, post-party cleaning up were equally divided among members. And at the 2001 general meeting, prizes were given to members. Prizes were given out not in the order of position but for active members who had contributed their time and effort to the union, for example, the prize for increasing union members, prize for best decorating efforts, prize for best cooking, prize for volunteering, prize for being together, etc, giving recognition and encouragement for different roles played.
It has been pointed out that multiple identities and a lack of self-esteem are some of the characteristics of women.
The KWTU has carried out the following three strategies to overcome such problems.
First, self-discovery and open programs are underway. The `Basic Small Group Program' consists of 4 lectures and is a training program of self-discovery and openness. This program helps to smoothen awkwardness and to enhance understanding among new union members.
Second, the sharing of everyday life which is formally undertaken in all small groups and branch steering committees. Such sharing opens up the daily lives of the members and formalizes any problems. So it is not `separate lives, separate workplace stories, or separate stories of childraising’in the unions but a common place for sharing personal stories and receiving encouragement and support.
Third, the operation of family-conscious programs. One of the best projects of the KWTU is the program which integrates the participation of children. In the case of educational programs which require the attendance of all the union members, caregivers is invited to look after the children. In the case of participation in sleep-over programs, a union officer will provide housing and volunteers will look after the children.
Such programs help union members to lessen their burdens of childcare and enhance participation in union activities and deepen concentration of the participants.

4. Issues

In the process of organizing women workers, women specific characteristics must be recognized and women-friendly policies, organizational methods and culture must be systematized and expanded.
To increase the organizational rate of women workers, unions and national-level umbrella unions are actively pursuing a quota system for women in the de챠sion-making processes. However. it is only the National Teachers' Union and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions which have adopted a women's quota system as its official policy. According to Ms Jung, Yong-sook, of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions it would not be easy to achieve such a quota system in a short time as it meant that certain privileges held by full-time workers must be given up and also that it was difficult to organize irregular women workers.
However, the reality is that organizing women workers cannot be put off any longer. The organizing of irregular workers is considered in the labor movements as an issue that must be addressed immediately. Actions must be undertaken to link realistic alternatives to organizing. As noted in the above, women-friendly organizational policies and culture are not only applicable to women workers but to all levels. However, this research has been based only on the cases studies of the KWTU and the application of such policies might be adequate and so individual organization must come up with policies and methods specific to their organizations.

* According to the data on employment trends from the Department of Statistics in July 2001, of the total population in economic activity was 22,520,000 persons, 9,328,000 persons were women (4.4%) and 13,192,000 (58.6%) persons were men. Of the 21,760,000 people employed, 9,076,000 persons (41.7%) were women and 12,684,000 persons (58.3%) were men.