VOICES FROM THE WORKPLACE

Work as a caddy

At the end of 1997, there were many people who had lost their jobs and even given up their homes and they lived in the consciousness of having 'failed' and having been kicked out from society under the serious economic IMF crisis. At that time we did not really feel any personal changes. I just felt a bit sorry for them and a bit guilty for my own comfortable life.

I reflect that I was somewhat arrogant about my status. I was an ordinary mother and, at the same time, I was a career woman as a caddy. My career helped to stabilize the financial situation of my family. My husband, who was very against my work, began to acknowledge my career. I was happy to have our family nest which remained unshaken by IMF.

Retrenchment of those over 41 years old

Nobody can tell the future! A dark storm has come to my company. Last year, a senior caddy broke her leg due to the break-down of a machine. It was the dark cloud heralding the storm. The managers insisted that the accident occurred because she was too old to avoid the accident. After the accident, the company ordered the retrenchment of those caddies over 41 years old.

The company did not investigate whether their mechanics had made a mistake in looking after the machines but suppressed our complaints. Without taking responsibility for the work done by their mechanics, they threw us away under the name of a generation shift. I felt profoundly a sense of the selfishness and power of society which I had not experienced in depth before.

There were 12 women over 41. It was really unfair. We tried to work hard and even worked more than our young colleagues. We put two or three times the efforts due to our awareness of our ages. There was no way to speak out for ourselves even though we were badly treated because we were not temporary workers or permanent workers. We could not receive any compensation for our injuries. In spite of our full efforts for the company, they cornered us.

We were so angry and frustrated by the words of seniors who said that the young women with pretty faces could be excused for any mistake. It reflected the Philistinism of men. The managers did not listen to us but tried to pressure us to resign. We finally wrote an appeal letter to the Board of Audit and Inspection. Then we visited the president of the company. 5 of the 12 workers on the list met the president. In the meeting the we explained our situation and begged to be able to continue to work. The president, who knew nothing about it, simply accepted our plea.

We were so happy that we worked for the company very hard. We really thought that there would be no more problems. Almost a year passed and our manager moved to another department and a new manager came. We came to know about the plans of the managers to dismiss 6 workers in March - for example, those who were born in 1958 in June. We could not believe the news. In December the oldest caddies were retrenched and March [traditionally the time of change and new recruitment drives in Korea] finally arrived.

I was told to resign. Where has the president's promise gone? We again tried to appeal against our situation. We didn't receive any compensation and have no other place to work. At over 40 years old, where can we go to work? The company sneered at our pleas saying that we might try to appeal to the Blue House or National Congress if we wished. We continued to beg for reinstatement of work. We were all exhausted and almost gave up. We were gradually dying everyday.

No compromise if we won't give up

One day someone came to us and told us that there was somewhere we could go to get help and be rescued. The person encouraged us to visit to get help to regain power and be given courage. At first we were not very positive. However our friend brought us a tape recorder and continued to encourage us. The place, to which six of us paid a very tentative and shy visit, was the Korean Women Workers Association United.

We knocked on the door very quietly and entered into the room. Ms. Soon Im Choi, a Counseling Officer, welcomed us with a warm smile. We were relaxed by the gentle and mild impression she gave. She encouraged us to build up our courage and determination to struggle for our rights. We felt somewhat ashamed: we had simply given up our rights and tried to compromise for the sake of convenience.

We made a strong determination to challenge the company. We started our hard journey from that day. We appealed again to the managers and they ignored us. We wondered if the president knew about our case. We informed the Master Control Room of our visit to the president and directly we went to the president's room.

Some physically-threatening senior officers were waiting for us in front of the president's room and stopped us entering. We were almost driven out of the place and were brought to the room of the managing director. We told him our story and asked for the reinstatement of those laid-off. The managing director said that it was due to the company requirements. We insisted on meeting the president, and at last we were allowed to see him.

He was totally different from the president whom we met a year ago. He explained that the decision was in accordance with the direction and principles of the company and there was to be no exception. We could do nothing but cry silently. We brought the tape recorder to the president's room but we could not press the button because we were so tense.

Struggle through wall poster campaigning at dawn

The difficult struggle continued. We wrote posters everyday and put them on the walls of the company at early dawn. Words to the president, words to the caddies, appeals for us to regain our rights, and so on, were written on the posters. We continued to put them up and the company continued to take them down.

In the process, we all were mentally and physically exhausted. Some of us had serious health problems. Some had nervous gastritis, and they vomited and suffered from diarrhea. We began to worry. When a colleague questioned, "How can we win this struggle?", I was also worrying about the same thing.

However, we continue to fight. Even when I returned home, my mind was full of things related to the struggle: which words on the posters could make a stonger appeal, how to write to move the minds of the managers, etc. Due to my commitment, my house was a mess.

I told my husband that I could not stop now because I was the one who was leading the struggle and had a colleague who had bought me a tape recorder as encouragement. My husband understood me and cared for my health. He made sure I ate and slept well. I was so grateful to my husband. The most painful thing came from the remaining caddies.

They sympathized with us from the beginning until the end of March. However, when our caddy numbers were removed from the list they turned away from us. It seemed that we had lost everything with our caddy numbers. Our former colleagues implied that the company would be all right if we, the old caddies, left. I was really eager to stop campaigning. The company managers were trying to divide us by saying that the company might accept those who were born in 1958.

The determination of our group was starting to fade. It was hard enough to make myself stand firmly, and it was almost impossible to hold others. The only thing I could do was to persuade them not to give up. I told them that it was not easy to be recognized as a career woman and we should battle on. Whenever I was at a loss, I came to Seoul and met Ms. Choi and gained new strength. I tried to remember the encouragement and help she gave me every time I needed new will to fight.

Returning to the workplace and regaining caddy numbers

Owing to the efforts of the Korean Women Workers Association United, we held the first labour management negotiations on April 7. After the negotiations, we learned that we were in an advantageous position, and some of the remaining caddies were on our side. The attitude of the managers had also changed.

When the second negotiations were scheduled for April 14, the managers were eager to resolve the problem before the second negotiations began. The attitudes of the older caddies had also changed. The company demanded an apology letter in order to keep the pride of the company and the president.

We demanded in return that the promises made through the negotaitions be made official. Both sides of the dispute were in tense confrontation. The company suggested that we forget both about the apology letter and the formalizing of the negotiation agreements, and we did so, as a mark of respect to the company.

Finally the company allowed our original number to return to work. The struggle from April 1 to April 14 was the unforgettable and great hardship in my life. I think it was achieved by a good co-operative effort by the Korean Women Workers Association United and our own consolidated powers. How can I express my feelings and emotions that were born in the process of every moment of struggle?

I believe that we should work hard and, at the same time, we should be aware of our rights from now on. I would like to express my warm and heartfelt thanks to the staff of the Korean Women Workers Association United.

Ms. XXX, an irregular guard servant in the district office, xx city, Kyounggi-do province, received notification that, "One hundred thousand won will be deducted from your salary from 1999 in order to return the extra payment for overtime work for the past two years." According to the budget execution I instructions of the city administration, all extra payments should be signed by the receiver as confirmation.

However, the district office did not prepare the confirmation note and this was dis-covered during the general audit. The auditor instructed that the overtime payments made to the guard servant which were paid without any confirmation be returned.

The office guard servants are sent to every dong office by the city authority and their main work is to clean the office. They always come to the office an hour early to clean the place and for that they receive overtime payment. In this case, the problem was the confirmation of overtime payment. In fact he dong office administration was responsible for not providing the confirmation note.

However, this res-ponsibility was loaded onto the servant. Furthermore the xx city authority reduced the working days of irregular workers for a year from 300 days to 280 days in accordance with the local autonomy principle. This one-sided instruction was announced; "The weekly off payment will be paid only for 40 weeks.

The monthly off payment will be terminated and the annual days off will be replaced by vacation." The guard servants felt unable to protest due to feeling job insecurity. Therefore he wrote an appeal to the xx city authority anonymously regarding the unfair treatment. The response stated: "It is fair to return the extra payment for overtime work.

The weekly off payment is for full presence at work, it can be paid only for 40 weeks and the monthly off payment has now no basis on which to be paid as working days have been reduced." Furthermore, the city sent their people to the dong office in order to find out who wrote the appeal.

The Equal Rights Counseling Center at the KWWAU enrolled the case in March 1999. They then sent an official letter to the xx city hall with the following content: The guard servants overworked 25 hours a month following the instructions of the dong office, and they should be paid for their overwork unconditionally. The absence of a document of confirmation is not their fault but is due to the an administrative error in the dong office.

The person in charge of the dong office should be responsible for that. Since the guard servants and xx city made a contract of 280 days of working days, the payments for weekly off, monthly off, and annual off are supposed to be paid if a worker has been wholly present for the contracted days. The Equal Rights Counseling of KWWAU urged the city authority to retract its unjust treatment.

Finally the case was concluded with the response from xx city as follows: "The overtime payments will be repaid to the servants and the payments for the weekly, monthly, and annual off days will be also paid."

Retraction of maternity protection under the economic crisis

We women workers have worked hard even through overtime work or all-night work. In spite of our efforts, we have simply been kicked out of our workplace under the name of IMF and the economic crisis. All of a sudden, a number of workers have been thrown into the streets, their families have been separated, and they are facing the crisis of family break-up.

Under these difficult circumstances, the first sacrificed have been women. This is not a new phenomenon. These are chronic symptoms from the past. At the end of 1997, the foreign exchange reserves ran out and the relief funds from IMF led the national economy into a new era. The people were suffering from a fear of national economic collapse. Even the seemingly successful enterprises went down, and the workers met a threat of unemployment unparalleled in history.

Hospitals were not exceptional. The drop in the foreign exchange rate made it difficult to purchase expensive medical equipment and the decrease in the number of patients added to the problem. Compared to other sectors of the society, the loss sustained by hospitals was not that serious. However, the owners of hospitals sought to capitalize on the situation.

They tried to make more profits through wage retrench, return of bonuses, compulsory vacation (in order to avoid paying working allowance for the vacation period), reducing expenses, enforcing overtime work, etc. under the name of the economic crisis. Workers were suffering from both over-burdened work loads due to no new recruits and the loss of power in their workplaces.

Entering into the year of 1999, the workers' sufferings have not decreased while the whole economic situation is improving. For instance, the women workers had to give up women's holidays last year [monthly days-off during menstruation]. Even in 1999 unconditional rights to this leave have still not been restored.

Research last March showed that the women workers in seventeen workplaces did not receive women's holidays and the maternity leave has also decreased in length. Maternity protection has been forsaken due to the economic crisis.

Pressure to give up women's holidays and to shorten maternity leave

Hospitals are workplaces in which most of the employees are women. In spite of the increased presence of female workers, they were enforced to return their monthly leaves and had to come to work before regaining their health after giving birth. The monthly leave is a very important and indisputable right of women. Employers must not be allowed to force employees to give it up.

The reasons are: first, it is guaranteed by law; second, the monthly leave should be guaranteed in the light of maternity protection; third, the length of total vacation in Korea is shorter than that in other countries; fourth, the monthly leave is still used in a way to increase wages; fifth, the working hours in Korea are longer than in other countries; sixth, there is no special leave for nursing children and parents in case of illness; and seventh, when monthly leave is taken room is made for further recruits.

he Labor Union of Heath & Medical Treatment urged the Labor Ministry to conduct a special audit on seventeen workplaces and also demanded legal punishment for the employers. The local labor offices conducted investigations. Some of the workplaces have improved their working conditions. However, some of them are still in the same situation.

The reasons monthly leave is not used are, according to our research: firstly, the workers wish to take monthly leave but are pressured to give it up due to the atmosphere created by the managers; secondly, workers are conditioned to give up the leave due to the fact that they were forced to in previous difficult years;

thirdly, due to awareness of the difficult financial situation of the hospital; fourthly, the workers themselves give it up in order to make a good impression on their managers so as to improve scores in individual working records, etc.

The consideration of women's Holidays should be valued in the light of maternity protection

The attitude of supervisors sent by the local labor office has changed a lot and thus has a different, more positive, effect. In the past the supervisors were sent only for superficial reasons. Now, the issue is related to women's issues, and the union has demanded female supervisors. Inspections are therefore carried out with more precise ends and standards in mind.

For example, in a certain workplace, the supervisor ordered payment for the past three years of unused monthly leave. It was a very positive change in labor administration.

Since 1993, the controversy on the women's holiday has continued. It may be due to the fact that there are not many countries where women's holidays are granted. However, compared to the member countries of the OECD, Korea has less vacations, longer working hours, and much less maternity protection.

Therefore we still need to consider carefully the value of women's holidays. In the light of improving and developing labor conditions and maternity protection, women's holidays must be carefully evaluated and not just merely dispensed with.

A woman, like the wind, can never be trapped in a net
- Ahn Sooyoung, a writer in 'Oreum', a women's art group -

Ahn Sooyoung, multi-media writer

Ahn Sooyoung is a single writer, who has just reached 30 years old. She writes using many media of expression. She makes dolls. Making dolls, she writes playbooks. After writing a playbook and making dolls, she talks with the dolls and plays with them.

She likes children and loves their culture so much that she once dreamed of being a children's storybook author. She also once wanted to be a radio actress. Puppet shows were the best choice for her. The Oreum provided a venue for her strong and vital direction.

The Oreum is a pure Korean term for the molten lava thrusting up through the volcanoes in Chaeju island. The term also has another meaning. It means 'climbing up'. The Oreum group chose the name to symbolize their wish to see women's culture put up the agenda, and become a part of mainstream culture rather than a sideline. The pretty Korean term implies a certain strength and stocky beauty.

"The Oreum is a women arts group planning and producing plays, puppet shows, music, Goot , etc. in the light of feminism. It was established in January 1997 with the purpose of setting up an equal culture overcoming our sexually discriminative one. I started working with Oreum a year after its establishment."

My curiosity surrounding her puppet play, which I haven't seen yet, is increasing. In fact Oreum is not a new organization. They have provided a performance at the March 8 Women Workers' Rally every year since its establishment. This year they have prepared a song-play with the theme of the problem of irregular workers and female unemployment. The task of writing the playbook was given to Ahn Sooyoung

"I have concentrated on puppet plays for some time and the theme is a hot issue these days and therefore it was quite a burden for me. I had not reflected extensively on women workers' issues and have never before written a song-play. However I tried to do my best with my faith that what was given to me was important and it was necessary work for my organization. I was involved in a student movement when I was a student and that experience helped me a lot."

Inspiration gotten from the workers' rally

Her basic understanding of the labor movement was born through the poetry of Park Nohae, 'Early Dawn of Labor', which was found on the book shelf of her sister, with whom she lived for a certain period. At that time she wanted to be a reporter and wanted to do good.

She entered the Sacred Heart University, majoring in Korean literature, in 1989. At university she joined in the students' newspaper. There were continuous seminars on social, political, and economical issues. What she had thought to be immovable was shaken and it was hard for her to digest all the new knowledge.

"The reason why I committed myself to the movement was not owing to theoretical backgrounds but to the emotional influences of various workers' rallies and the activities of the mothers whose sons and daughters were in prison due to their commitment.

When I was a senior in the university I was elected as vice-president of the students' council and the whole year was spent in street demonstrations. I can still recall the voices of the masses in the street whenever I pass the bell house .

My first experience of a street demonstration was when I was a sophomore. I went to the bell house with my friend in order to take part in the street demonstration. It was nearly time for the demonstration but there were no gatherings of people. I was very tense and began to worry that information might have found its way to the police.

All of sudden there was a siren and, at the same time, most of the people on the street, who were walking normally, gathered as groups and formed a mass. We started singing and the crowd marched on the street and more people joined. I will never forget the passion I felt on that day.

Life of a woman and her emotional inheritance from her mother

Under the title of 'Hope for Beautiful Future' the script of the song-play for the March 8 women workers' rally had gone through 11 amendments to fit every new situation. The primary function of the play was to collect the stories and illustrate the problems of irregular women workers and the problems associated with female unemployment.

She wrote the words of songs as if she were writing a poem. Lee Haeran, an Oreum representative, worked together with other staff on her writings to improve the final product.

Writing the words of songs, she could clarify her thoughts and put into concrete form the actualities of a Korean woman's life. Writing itself was not hard work for her, as she had worked in the planning and business department of the Korean Broad-casting System for a year and eight months, and also as a writer for non-drama programmes.

She is a member of a writers' group, which is composed of her university friends, and the group publishes a monthly newsletter. All those experiences have helped her to maintain and develop her writing capacity.

"The newsletter is only 16 to 24 pages of A4 size. We take a turns to produce it and distribute the newsletters to our friends. Last year we had a small music concert in a small coffee shop rented for the tenth anniversary of our group. Aren't there some difficult things in our lives? I don't worry too much because I have good colleagues who encourage each other and are ready to give a hand."

I was very impressed by her, her friends, and her faith in her friends. One month before the performance, they started practice. They did not perform by themselves but always in the practice place. They amended the words as the need arose. The Oreum actresses are mostly very experienced and talented. Ahn Sooyoung often could not believe she had written the words, and was so impressed by their performance that she cried almost every day.

"The most difficult part of the playbook was the part in which the mother turns up. In order to show the painful life of woman in this country and its history, the role of mothers was very important. It was not the story of my age and I had not experienced that part of life yet. Therefore I had to be very careful in that respect."

In fact, it is not that difficult. We can easily recall the life of our mothers. She also tried to remember her mother and in some parts she quotes things her mother said. She was born in March 4 1970 in Daechon, Choongnam as the youngest in a family of one boy and four daughters.

Her parents were very enthusiastic for their children to be educated. They used to say that they would beg to provide an education for their children. Her mother did whatever work she could get like sewing, washing dishes, and washing clothes.

She can remember the nights her sisters sewed until late. She pitied her mother, who was like an innocent girl with clear eyes, and never lived against the principle of nature. Her mother said, "No April without threshing barley, no October without cultivating rice." She was never against her mother.

She knew the difficulties endured by her parents and was obedient to her elder brother and sisters. As long as she remembers, she was more mature than other girls in her age. It was why she did not have many friends in her peergroup.

When she was a student of junior and senior high schools, she heard from her brother and some teachers conscious of the social troubles of the Kwangjoo struggle and social problems, but she regarded them as stories from a distant country. Her song-play was a success and the audience gave great applause. Her feeling after the performance was special.

"It was an important experience. I learned a lot and it made me expand my thoughts. If I could have another chance to do the same work, I would work harder towards the final product. I will make a great commitment for at least three years. My efforts will be meaningful and helpful in children's culture, on which I would like to concentrate. I will do whatever I can do."

India led her to a life closer to nature

A year and half ago, she quit her job in KBS. She was at a loss in her job in which she had to promote the power of broadcasting. After quitting her work with KBS and opting to join the Oreum, she left for India with a small sack. India is famous for the traditional puppet plays and the puppet play medium is particularly well developed in Rajasthan.

"I was a bit afraid of traveling alone but it was a really happy time. I was very impressed by the hot air which I breathed as soon as I landed at Bombay International Airport. Lots of pollution, old cars and strange sounds, rickshaws weaving in and out of the cars and animals, all this seemed to me like chaos.

They always said "No problem!" and yet I had to wait at least twelve hours in order to move from place to place. I had to learn to wait. I visited much of the countryside. The people, who live in harmony with nature and are very relaxed, impressed even me more than the beautiful countryside."

She learned a lot in India during her three months' stay. She learned to be freer in the way she lived her life and to try to live closely with nature. 'A woman like the wind, never trapped in a net' is a nickname given to her by her friends after her travels to India. With her expanded and freer thoughts she commits herself wholeheartedly to the puppet play.

"I like children. They are like juries which are not yet influenced by the negativity of society. The puppet play is a venue in which to meet the children, through music and art. Therefore it is very interesting. However, even children's culture is touched by commercial considerations.

Most existing puppet plays promote virtue and reprove vice. The heroine does not creatively solve problems but a certain supernatural power directs the story. Oreum tries to help the children to understand and think about the world in which they are living through the puppet plays.

So far we have made "A secret of Hanul", which was to help children protect themselves against sexual violence, and "Jjang Ah's travel under water", which was made for the promotion of environmental conscious-ness.

Wherever we are invited to play we eagerly accept. I am very satisfied with my work and I am very happy with my choice. I am happy to continue to do the same work if I can earn a little money for my basic living costs."

One of her heartfelt wishes is to provide a children's cultural center in ten years time. She is somewhat naive in character, and she can comfort herself in a difficult situation. I hope and believe that she can achieve much good work with her simple nature. I made a call to Oreum in order to check some points. They were performing in Cheonan. I could feel that their strong and indiluted will for a beautiful world being absorbed in every corner of the country.