Welfare Center for Women Workers
Kounggi Province and Ansan city assigned Welfare Center for Women Workers to give general education courses and job counseling to unemployed and middle-aged women. Welfare Center also provides support for small group activities and welfare services and holds diverse programs for capacity building of women.

1. General education course
1) Lecture on labor laws including Labor Standard Law
2) Courses for women workers
3) Prevention Courses of sexual harassment at workplace
4) Exposure programs
5) Special Lecture for working women
6) Training for women leaders

2. Job Training for capacity building and capacity enhancement
1) Professional courses of tele-marketers
2) Courses of after-school teachers
3) Capacity enhancement courses for reading guiders for children
4) Other professional courses of women-friendly jobs
Posted by KWWA
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Women Resource Development Center
  Despite the increasing rates of female labor force in economic activities since the 1980s, conditions for women to enter into the labor market are still limited.  Thus, in order to answer the demands of women, to expand the employment of women, and to secure their employment, it's essential and required to expand the opportunities of skill training and vocational training for women as well as to strengthen up the training programs.   Especially as women workers fall into irregular women workers recently, it is urgent and important to develope vocational training for women.
  
   Women Resource and Development Center is a special training organization for women as ray of hope for women to give diverse job training and job information actively and to hold general education courses.  
  Women Resource and Development Center sets up the following main goals:
  * Development of job areas for women in the 21st century and Implementation of special job  
    training
  * Active job counseling and Creation of jobs to expand the women's opportunities for  
    economic and social activities  
  * Effective management of child care facilities and counseling center for solving the
    difficulties of women workers to improve the welfare of working women
  * Development and Implementation of useful and diverse general education programs

Kuro, Seoul 82-2-867-4456 (FAX 4459)
Dongrae, Pusan 82-51-503-7268 (FAX 505-7151)

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Hotline for Equality (Equaline)
1. Background of Hotline for Equality (Equaline)

    Equaline was opened  in five branches of KWWAU (Seoul, Inchon, Masan, Kwangju, and Pusan) in October of 1995 and now expanded to other three branches (North Cholla, Ansan, and Buchon). KWWAU has given training programs to counselors in each branch twice a year and published case study books based on counseling cases from all branches every year. Besides 8 branches, KWWAU also helps other organizations open a counseling center for women workers by exchanging information and advice.

   Equaline wants to solve the problems and difficulties that working women face today. Equaline gives counseling to women workers who seek for advice and help from employment insecurity, gender discrimination at workplace, maternity protection, sexual harassment and verbal/physical violence at workplace, and occupational disease.   Equaline also counsels women workers who asks for advice about obtaining jobs, difficulties with jobs and colleagues, and  unjust labor practices and explains how to organize a trade union and how to secure basic rights of workers. Especially, the recent economic slowdown made female labor periphery and irregular workers so that Equaline now concentrates on the protection of women workers' rights.

   In addition to counseling, Equaline holds public hearings and urges the Government to make proper policies for women workers as well as makes Equaline public and develops training programs.


2. Main Activities of Equaline

1) Counseling
*  Free counseling for legal advice : women workers get legal advice for free who are suffering from backwage, dismissal, temporary job status, forced resignation on marriage, discriminative earlier resignation and so on.
* Maternity Protection : women workers get counseling on protection of pregnant women workers, menstrual leave, miscarriage leave, and delivery leave.
* Child Care leave and facilities at workplace : women workers get support to improve the conditions of child care facilities at workplace.
* Equal rights as workers : women workers get counseling on gender discrimination of recruitment, employment, promotion, education, discriminative wage and bonus gap, forced resignation on marriage and discriminative earlier resignation.
* Unstable employment : temporary and subcontract women workers get information on their rights protected by labor laws in case of plants closure, plants dislocation, layoffs, and dismissal and women workers can be protected and enjoy healthy lives through counseling on occupational disease, harmful chemicals and poor working conditions.
* Counseling on basic rights of workers : women workers get counseling on unjust labor practices, backwage, sexual harassment, assistance for establishment and activities of trade unions.

2) Training programs : Equaline holds training programs for counselors twice a year and supports education for women trade union members.

3) Development of women-friendly policies : Equaline develops proper policies for women workers to expand the coverage of maternity protection and to secure equal working conditions for both women and men.

4) Publication : Equaline publishes case study books based on counseling cases from all Equalines and holds a report announcement for the case study book.  Equaline also holds seminars to discuss the problems of women workers and provides materials for the trade unions and labor organizations.
Posted by KWWA
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Action Center for Restoration of Irregular Women Workers' Rights
1. Main Objectives

1) To ensure that all protection measures guaranteed by the Constitution be observed for the enhancement of the basic rights and lives of women workers.
2) To guarantee the rights of women who could not actively assert their rights through counseling and through the use of legal and administrative protective mechanisms and contribute to the awareness enhancement of women workers.
3) Campaigning the government for the strengthening of administrative supervision and policy implementation for the protection of irregular workers.

2. Projects

1) Counseling projects
* Operation of counseling counters by KWWAU including headquarter and eight branches and  
  by Korean Women's Trade Union (KWTU) including headquarter and nine regional branches
* Workshops (once a month at headquarter and branches) to exchange information on    
  counseling cases and to prepare measures
* Supporting petitions or law suits to guarantee the legal rights of irregular women workers
* Connecting women to organizations providing legal support and to joint activities

2) Educational publicity campaigns
*  Publication and distribution of [This is How I Protect My Rights]
*  National Campaigns (once or twice a month, headquarter and branches)
*  Publication of [This is How I found My Rights] by Headquarter

3) Policy Projects

* Public debates to achieve the basic rights of irregular workers
       ① Workshop by experts on legal structural reform for irregular workers
          (once a month)
       ② To achieve the basic rights of subcontract women workers
       ③ Real situation of women workers and measures needed to realize their basic rights
       ④ Structural measures to eliminate gender discrimination
       ⑤ Research on the working and living conditions of women workers
       ⑥ Activities related to the minimum wage system
       ⑦ Debate on the reality of work accidents faced by golf caddies and application of
          work accident insurance

* Submitting policy proposals to the government administrative bodies, National Assembly and political parties to achieve the basic rights of irregular women workers

* Requesting administrative supervision
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Seoul Women Workers' Association
Seoul Women Workers' Association
TEL : 02-867-0516 / FAX : 02-861-0815

Starting with Korean Women Workers' Association in 1987, it changed into SWWA in 1992. SWWA has carried out diverse activities for women workers and built a new phase of women workers' movement by supporting the setup of KWWAU together with other regional women workers' associations.

SWWA, striving for empowerment of women comprising a half of heaven and breaking the chains of discrimination at home, at work and society, is your friend and hope to open a bright future for women.

Her activities

* Activities for Lifelong Equal Labor Rights

1) Women and Work

At work and at home, against all discrimination,  women need to live self-reliant and independent lives. For this, SWWA gives women diverse educational programs to raise their awareness and to support their economic activities.

2) Women and Gender, Marriage  

SWWA gives education courses to women to help them get better understanding of the essential systematic women's problems. Especially working women need to get the courses for understanding of realities of women workers, their movement, maternity protection, and sexual harassment at work.  

3) Women and Family

SWWA prepares educational courses such as sex education, points of view on love and marriage, and how to deal with sexual harassment at work. In addition, SWWA carries out programs for women such as how to be good parents, how to communicate with your children, how to make a democratic home and how to give sex information to their children.

4) Women and Law

SWWA carries out programs for women workers so that they can get more information on women related laws such as Equal Opportunity for Employment between men and women, Child care laws, Employment Insurance laws, laws for women's development, or Labor Standard Law.  

5) etc
For men, SWWA prepares programs. For example, anyone can participate in open lecture on history of labor movement given by labor activists who played vital roles in 1970s to 1980s.  
Also anyone interested in our programs feel free to call us.



* Job Training Activities

More and more women want to keep working after marriage. As only monotonous low-paid jobs are allowed for women, women also want to have their own speciality in job markets. However, now we are facing the reality that we can't get any stable jobs due to the lack of skills and training courses are not enough for all women who want to take.
Thus, SWWA leads the way to job creation and job stability for women. SWWA published case study book on job training of women and suggestions to develope the programs in 1994 and now making every effort to develope advanced programs for women, which can facilitate women to get jobs again. In addition, SWWA has diverse retraining courses to help them get better skills. After completing series of training courses, SWWA give job information to women trained and also gives counseling and advice for women to keep their lifelong right to work.


* Policy Development

1) Maternity Protection : "women workers' safety and health","vocational disease and maternity protection", "schemes for society to share the cost of maternity protection"

2) Equal Employment : "struggle guidelines for raise of women workers", "abolition of forced retirement due to marriage and pregnancy and of early retirement", " guidelines of Ministry of Gender Equality for trade unions", "policies for women to work"  

3) Job Security

"the real situation of job insecurity for women workers and its countermeasures","how can we solve the problem of deteriorating job insecurity","no rights, double exploitation, how can we see this", "employment insurance and women's job security"
4) Child Care  

"amendment bills for child care laws", "direction of current child care movement and future tasks of women labor movement", "proper measures to establish nursery at work"


* Solidarity Building : SWWA regularly exchange and share experiences and activities     with other organizations in and abroad.


* Her Associates

1) Hot Line for Equality (EQUALINE)

In order to protect women workers against infringement of their human rights at work   and to effectively support them, Equaline is set up and gives counsels and advice to women. Call, visit, letter, or e-mailing can contact Equaline.
Tel : 02-853-8354 / 0505-555-5050/
Fax : 02-861-0815
E-mail : swwa@jinbo.net
Cyber-counseling : www.equaline.or.kr
Biz hour : Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. ~ 7 :00 p.m./ Saturday 10:00 a.m.~ 1:00 p.m.
           Besides biz hour, appointment in advance can make counseling time.

2) Tuntuni(Sound mind sound body) Children's House
            
For working parents in Guro, in 1989 Tuntuni Children's House was established and in August 2001 it was rebuilt as schooling community for children.  Child care is not only a family responsibility but also a responsibility of our society and Tuntuni Children's House can be an alternative child care community.  
Tel : 02-837-3073

3) Guro Women Resource Development Center  

Guro Women Resource Development Center was established for the rights of women workers and for their economic reliance by support of Ministry of Labor.
While more women want to participate in economic activities since 1980s, there are still high barriers to limit their participation in labor market. Thus SWWA has asked for enhancement of job training and educations to expand women's employment and job stability, especially in this period of increasing irregular women workers.  

◐ Cultural courses for the community
- acupuncture
- sports dance
- reading fairy tales
- English conversation by native speakers

◐ Building job capacity courses

- making clothes and repairing
- attaining licenses to be hair dresser and Korean Food cook
- home nurses courses

◐ Computer courses: windows, Excel, Hangeul 97, HTML, Flash, Photoshop, Ilustrators and web design

Tel : (02) 867 - 4456
FAX : (02) 867 - 4459
E-mail : workhome@chollian.net / work23home@hanmail.net  

4) Guro 'Samteo' Self-support Center

◐ Community Workplace
For women who can't get jobs due to their conditions, community workplace can provide them with side jobs to support their livelihood. At the first course, women can learn how to make stationeries and at the next course, they can complete fuzzy stuffed toys and electronic parts. During the courses women can meet each other and completion of the courses can make them open a common business together.
  
◐ Another Room
Another Room is a collective which produce uniforms or accessaries for the women completing the courses of Community Workplace. It gets orders and produces goods for the demanders.

◐ Skillful Foxes
Skillful Foxes is a brand name for SWWA. Among job seekers, every two women a month are arranged for high-skill training and given jobs as sewer.  By giving one skill training a month, SWWA aims to increase productivity.

◐ Food Delivery Service
Food Delivery Service markets, cooks, and delivers their food for special events. It develops Korean Daily Food and family events menu for marriage or funeral and for women who want to open their business it can be experience for management.

◐ Home Helper for women delivered a baby
◐ Home Helper : housekeeping or cleaning
Tel : (02) 856 - 0516
E-mail : kurolife@hanmail.net
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Her Birth and Growth
kwwa 

Korean  women workers have toiled in exploitative and dangerous working conditions since the beginning of industrial development in the 1960s. Despite the growth of the Korean economy, women workers still face intense discrimination, insecurity and exploitation in the workplace as well as in the society. However, women workers continue their struggles to achieve their basic rights as workers and as human beings.

   In the spirit of previous women workers' struggles and to encourage women workers to join the women workers' movement, leaders of the democratic trade union movement in the 1970s created Women Workers' Associations in Seoul as the starting point in March of 1987 and regional women workers' associations were formed in export concentrated sectors, industrial complexes and low income areas across the nation. In 1989, these Women Workers Associations began to interchange practical businesses and undertook collective organizational policy development, research, education, and publication of the "Working Women."

   On 12th of July in 1992, Korean Women Workers' Association United (KWWAU) was established to more effectively bring together the efforts of these regional groups and to strengthen the central policy making power. In June of 1995, Ministry of Labor certified Korean Women Workers' Association United as corporation aggregate.



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Inchon Women Workers' Association  

TEL: 032 - 862-2832 Fax: 032 - 863-2659
www.womenworker.org

Sharing House for working women opening in 1988  changed into IWWA in 1989 and IWWA has worked to realize the human rights of women workers since.

Her Activities

1) Policy development for raising women's status
- policy suggestions and amendment bills of women related laws for expansion of women's employment and job training, public discussion for equal rights to work, job security, expansion of maternity protection, elimination of vocational disease and improvement of working conditions.
- expansion of child care facilities and policy suggestions for governmental support
- policy suggestions and monitoring for improving the women related policies in Incheon  

2) Support for rights of working women  
- free law counseling for women workers and support their struggle
- support for trade union activities  
- watching over toxic chemicals for protection of maternity and health and improving poor working conditions  
- support for guaranteeing stable income through expansion of common workplace and cooperatives and for heightening economic capability
-  monitoring implementation of Equal Employment of men and women and securing equal right for employment and promotion

3) Education and Publicity
- education for democratic family relationship and for democratic parents
- publication of Working Women and training textbooks for women
- Rally in commemorative of 3.8 International Women's Day and disseminating women related resources
- fact finding research and survey for lifetime workplace and human rights of women and campaigns

4) Support to build a democratic society
- establishment and amendment of special law on sexual violence and prevention law of domestic violence and campaigns
- suggestion of quota system for expansion of women's participation in politics and raising women leaders
- support to reduce arms for peace and unification
- securing minimum level of livelihood and welfare improvement for equal society

5) Support for small groups

- Women and Movie
- My love Han Peninsula: Searching for cultural relics
- Finger language
- singing club
- Neul Poom : eco-freindly home makers' group
- Building a women-friendly workplace

Her Associates

◐ Nanum Children's House : for two to six year-old children
   TEL: 863 - 7443
◐ Od Nurie Cooperative : producing clothes
   TEL: 523-7502

◐ Equaline
TEL:l 032-525-1982

◐ Self-support : for low-waged women to enhance their self-reliance and improve their welfare through job creation, support to open business and to run self-support community and development of self-support programs.  

● Self-support community
    "Mama's touch" providing lunch
    "Master of the House" repairing houses
     Home Nurses

● Self-support volunteers
    Free repairing houses
    Home Nursing Team

● Side-job Community : fuzzy stuffed toys and electric parts
   
● Counseling and Education : counseling for employment, opening business and other livelihood support/education to raise will of self-support and community consciousness
   
● improvement of neighborhood and research and survey : free medical care, volunteer activities for welfare centers and free meal for hungry children, sharing kimchi, and research on desire and demands for welfare and social resources in Incheon
Posted by KWWA
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Seoul Women Workers' Association

TEL : 02-3141-3011

Starting with Korean Women Workers' Association in 1987, it changed into SWWA in 1992. SWWA has carried out diverse activities for women workers and built a new phase of women workers' movement by supporting the setup of KWWAU together with other regional women workers' associations.

SWWA, striving for empowerment of women comprising a half of heaven and breaking the chains of discrimination at home, at work and society, is your friend and hope to open a bright future for women.

Her activities

* Activities for Lifelong Equal Labor Rights

1) Women and Work

At work and at home, against all discrimination,  women need to live self-reliant and independent lives. For this, SWWA gives women diverse educational programs to raise their awareness and to support their economic activities.

2) Women and Gender, Marriage  

SWWA gives education courses to women to help them get better understanding of the essential systematic women's problems. Especially working women need to get the courses for understanding of realities of women workers, their movement, maternity protection, and sexual harassment at work.  

3) Women and Family

SWWA prepares educational courses such as sex education, points of view on love and marriage, and how to deal with sexual harassment at work. In addition, SWWA carries out programs for women such as how to be good parents, how to communicate with your children, how to make a democratic home and how to give sex information to their children.

4) Women and Law

SWWA carries out programs for women workers so that they can get more information on women related laws such as Equal Opportunity for Employment between men and women, Child care laws, Employment Insurance laws, laws for women's development, or Labor Standard Law.  

5) etc
For men, SWWA prepares programs. For example, anyone can participate in open lecture on history of labor movement given by labor activists who played vital roles in 1970s to 1980s.  
Also anyone interested in our programs feel free to call us.



* Job Training Activities

More and more women want to keep working after marriage. As only monotonous low-paid jobs are allowed for women, women also want to have their own speciality in job markets. However, now we are facing the reality that we can't get any stable jobs due to the lack of skills and training courses are not enough for all women who want to take.
Thus, SWWA leads the way to job creation and job stability for women. SWWA published case study book on job training of women and suggestions to develope the programs in 1994 and now making every effort to develope advanced programs for women, which can facilitate women to get jobs again. In addition, SWWA has diverse retraining courses to help them get better skills. After completing series of training courses, SWWA give job information to women trained and also gives counseling and advice for women to keep their lifelong right to work.


* Policy Development

1) Maternity Protection : "women workers' safety and health","vocational disease and maternity protection", "schemes for society to share the cost of maternity protection"

2) Equal Employment : "struggle guidelines for raise of women workers", "abolition of forced retirement due to marriage and pregnancy and of early retirement", " guidelines of Ministry of Gender Equality for trade unions", "policies for women to work"  

3) Job Security

"the real situation of job insecurity for women workers and its countermeasures","how can we solve the problem of deteriorating job insecurity","no rights, double exploitation, how can we see this", "employment insurance and women's job security"
4) Child Care  

"amendment bills for child care laws", "direction of current child care movement and future tasks of women labor movement", "proper measures to establish nursery at work"


* Solidarity Building : SWWA regularly exchange and share experiences and activities     with other organizations in and abroad.


* Her Associates

1) Hot Line for Equality (EQUALINE)

In order to protect women workers against infringement of their human rights at work   and to effectively support them, Equaline is set up and gives counsels and advice to women. Call, visit, letter, or e-mailing can contact Equaline.
Tel : 02-853-8354 / 0505-555-5050/
Fax : 02-861-0815
E-mail : swwa@jinbo.net
Cyber-counseling : www.equaline.or.kr
Biz hour : Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. ~ 7 :00 p.m./ Saturday 10:00 a.m.~ 1:00 p.m.
           Besides biz hour, appointment in advance can make counseling time.

2) Tuntuni(Sound mind sound body) Children's House
            
For working parents in Guro, in 1989 Tuntuni Children's House was established and in August 2001 it was rebuilt as schooling community for children.  Child care is not only a family responsibility but also a responsibility of our society and Tuntuni Children's House can be an alternative child care community.  
Tel : 02-837-3073

3) Guro Women Resource Development Center  

Guro Women Resource Development Center was established for the rights of women workers and for their economic reliance by support of Ministry of Labor.
While more women want to participate in economic activities since 1980s, there are still high barriers to limit their participation in labor market. Thus SWWA has asked for enhancement of job training and educations to expand women's employment and job stability, especially in this period of increasing irregular women workers.  

◐ Cultural courses for the community
- acupuncture
- sports dance
- reading fairy tales
- English conversation by native speakers

◐ Building job capacity courses

- making clothes and repairing
- attaining licenses to be hair dresser and Korean Food cook
- home nurses courses

◐ Computer courses: windows, Excel, Hangeul 97, HTML, Flash, Photoshop, Ilustrators and web design

Tel : (02) 867 - 4456
FAX : (02) 867 - 4459
E-mail : workhome@chollian.net / work23home@hanmail.net 

4) Guro 'Samteo' Self-support Center

◐ Community Workplace
For women who can't get jobs due to their conditions, community workplace can provide them with side jobs to support their livelihood. At the first course, women can learn how to make stationeries and at the next course, they can complete fuzzy stuffed toys and electronic parts. During the courses women can meet each other and completion of the courses can make them open a common business together.
  
◐ Another Room
Another Room is a collective which produce uniforms or accessaries for the women completing the courses of Community Workplace. It gets orders and produces goods for the demanders.

◐ Skillful Foxes
Skillful Foxes is a brand name for SWWA. Among job seekers, every two women a month are arranged for high-skill training and given jobs as sewer.  By giving one skill training a month, SWWA aims to increase productivity.

◐ Food Delivery Service
Food Delivery Service markets, cooks, and delivers their food for special events. It develops Korean Daily Food and family events menu for marriage or funeral and for women who want to open their business it can be experience for management.

◐ Home Helper for women delivered a baby
◐ Home Helper : housekeeping or cleaning
Tel : (02) 856 - 0516
E-mail : kurolife@hanmail.net
Posted by KWWA
|