| kwwa |
2002-10-28 14:06:17, 조회 : 62 |
THE REALITIES OF KOREAN WOMEN WORKERS AND THEIR LABOR ACTIVISM
Introduction on the Process of Industrial Development in South Korea
For the past two decades, South Korea's major strategy for economic development has been an outward-looking industrialization which promotes labour-intensive export industries financed directly or indirectly by foreign capital. In the process, it launched a series of Five-year Economic Development plans. The first 1962-1966 and second 1967-71 Five-plans emphasized industrial growth. The Third Five-year plan 1972-76 emphasized balanced growth between industrial and agricultural sectors and the Fourth Five-year plan 1977-81 stressed sustained economic growth and equity. In this process Korean women have served as a significant labour force which is well-disciplined and motivated with a relatively high level of education, and their contribution to the rapid economic growth is widely recognised. Although the extent and nature of Korean women's participation in the industrialization process may have been conditioned by Korea's unique tradition and history as a divided nation, a basic common trend has emerged throughout the asian Counties in the structure of women 's labour participation. These strategies focused on labour-intensive light industries in the sixties to the early seventies, and then capital-intensive heavy industries in the late seventies.
In spite of government's original intention to build a self-sufficient national economy, the export-oriented economy had to depend on foreign capital, technology and resources. Since the 1970s, the deepening industrialization has changed from a focus on traditional light industries to a concentration in modern heavy industries. By 1977, the share of light industries had decreased to 38.8%, while heavy industries accounted for 48.9% of industrial output. In addition, on account of the structural change of the world manufacturing industry in the international division of labour , some portion of the heavy and chemical industries began to be transferred from the developed industrial countries to the developing countries. Under these circumstances, Korea planned to shed the light industry-centered export structure and build up an export-oriented structure in heavy and chemical industries. These industries consisted mainly of the export-oriented and labor-intensive industry sectors of electronics and ship-building rather than of capital intensive and technology intensive industries which spare labour. This increase deployment remarkably in the sectors of electronics and ship building: it absorbed a large labour force which was used in assembling the imported raw materials and intermediate goods into complete products with the help of machines, mostly imported. However, this rapid growth of export industrialization inevitably increased the Korean economy's dependence on foreign trade and investment.
Women's Participation in the Economy
The labour-intensive, export-oriented industrialization has encouraged women's participation in labour generally. In the manufacturing industry, especially, the increase of women's employment surpassed that of men's employment between 1970-1980. Since 1960, the proportion of women participating in economic activities increased rapidly until 1975: it was 26.8% in 1960, 1980 and again to 33.9 in 1983 because world business stagnation affected domestic economic activities and women's employment shrank.
In 1960, women's labour participation was concentrated in the primary sector, agriculture and fishery. As industrialization advanced women's participation has increased in all secondary and tertiary sectors. The proportion of female workers in primary industry diminished from 69.6% in 1960 to 57.7% in 1970 and 46.5% in 1980. With the shift of labour from the rural sector, women employed in manufacturing industries increased sharply during the 20 years from 12,000 to 1,000,000. This was due to the increase of young single women's employment, mostly concentrated in export manufacturing industries.
The increase of women's employment has occurred mostly in traditional women's jobs and in the simple technical occupations of subordinate positions in the labour-intensive manufacturing sector. It should be pointed out that the former are married women's occupations and the latter are unmarried women's occupations. this means that in spite of the rapid industrial growth, the area of women's employment has not been particularly enlarged. For example, changes of occupation from clerical to managerial jobs or from simple-skilled to technical jobs were impossible. The interruption of employment due to marriage, childbirth or retirement was also commonplace. Consequently, women's employment has increased mostly in the traditional sectors or in the simple production occupations on the basis of temporary, short-term employment, and as substitute labour required in rural areas due to male rural-urban migration.
Structural Changes in Women's Work
In looking at the Korean experience of economic growth, we can see that massive rural-urban migration was one of its most distinguishing features. During the period of economic growth, the relative neglect of the agricultural sector has led to a situation of comparative agricultural stagnation and caused an immediate push for flow of out-migration, especially with regard to young, single women from the rural area.
The proportion of urban residents in 1960 was 28.0% the percentage increased thereafter to 41.4% in 1970, and to 57.2% in 1980. The net result of these changes is also reflected in the labour force structure of industries. The related statistics confirm the assumption of a steady increase in the labour force in the urban sector, the relative proportion of the industrial labour force increased from 27.8% in 1963 to 46.4% in 1983 the ratio of labour population in the agricultural sector declined from 58.2% in 1963 to 30.7% in 1983. The female mobility from rural to urban areas shows an even more remarkable increase in 1976-80, numerically much greater than the male mobility i that period. Of these rural to urban female migrants young, single women in the age group of 15-24 occupy more than 40% a significantly large proportion. In general, the typical profile of most Korean women's work throughout the period of industrialization can be summarized as follows: while women's working conditions are difficult and discriminatory, leading many to stop working upon marriage, most of these women return once again to labour market at a later stage.
One of the underlying characteristics of married women's work in its lack of continuity as they alternate between different types of work and between the formal and informal sectors. married women have to accept the most unstable, temporary jobs, according to the extent of their family subsistence needs and maternal responsibilities. The careers of these women remain unstable and intermittent, and their former work experiences, if any do not count toward better job opportunities or wage raises.
1. Women Workers Situation
Korea's economic development is based on labour intensive light industry and the export oriented heavy chemical industry. The government policy of low wages for workers and low prices for agricultural products, that has made korea's industrial development possible, has resulted in the ruin of the agricultural economy and forced the country's farmers off the land and into the cities. specially, young and single women are who left the farm to make money in the industrial cities.
The wages of the industrial women workers in Korea is not only comparatively lower than women employed in other jobs, they are also paid lower than their male counterparts in the same industries. In Korea, it was found that women factory workers usually receive only 56.7% of the salary of men workers. According to ILO statistics for that year women workers in Korea registered the longest working hours in the world. In 1994, men worked 206.7 hours a month and women worked 204.0 hours, but their overtime work hours were 26.4 hours and 21.7 hours respectively. Women workers in manufacturing worked 209.8 hours, the longest in comparison to all other industries. Workers in firms with 10-29 employees worked 297.4 hours, very much over the legally designated work hours.
In East Asian countries are relocating its labour intensive industries to other countries while attempting to shift to high technology development. Korean government has been aiming at promoting frontier industries such as semiconductors, computers, bio-engineering, space aviation and cable communication, etc.
In facing the industrial restructuring in 1980s and 1990s, we can see that the status of women workers in Korea is further deteriorated. In Korea, though sub-contracting production has been existed for a long time, it has expanded drastically in the 1980s and 1990s and is b becoming a more institutionalized form of production in the garment and electronics industries. Sub-contracting workers undergo a cut in wages, longer hours, harsh working conditions, and less opportunities for labour organising. As we see in Korea, sub-contracting workers are mostly married women. The reasons for their family responsibilities and the vicinity of sub-contracting work to their place of residence. These women workers suffer from lowered wage, irregular hours and exclusion from all benefits and welfare payments.
A sizable number of women workers are employed in low-skilled jobs and they are concentrated in a small companies. In 1992, women working in firms employing less than workers comprised 62.7% of all women in the labour force.
1.1. The Unstable conditions facing Korean Women Workers.
The first casualties of any period of industrial restructuring have been women workers, and especially following the government-let industrial restructuring since 1986, the unstable conditions facing women workers have deepened on a daily bases. The labor policy derived from the strategy to inflate the domestic currency for greater international competitiveness has been especially detrimental to the employment conditions of Korean workers, and amidst these changes, the employment conditions of women workers have been terribly grave. Also, such a labour policy has been adopted as a tool for suppressing labour unions.
a. Unemployment.
The unemployment rate for women was 1.9%(2.7% for men) in 1994. The number of unemployed persons was 1.2 million in 1998, 1.78 million in 1993 and 1.55 million in 1994. In Korea, rather than unemployment, the bigger social problems that are becoming evident are the problems of labour shortages in production and manufacturing industries and the difficulty in finding jobs for educated workers.
Unemployment is appearing mostly in light industries, where women workers are concentrated, in the form of layoffs and dismissals. the most major causes of these layoffs and dismissals are the withdrawal of foreign capital joint ventures and their transfer abroad to other countries, the temporary suspension and permanent closures of small-to-medium sized firms and the systematization of sub-contracting. In 1994, there were company closures, resulting in job losses for workers.( this is a % increase compared to the previous year.) 2) Pusan shoe industry: in the five year period from 1990 to 1994, there were 217 companies that declared bankruptcy and the closure of 768 firms in the Pusan region.
The number of shoe industry workers which had been 164,000 at the beginning of 1988 decreased to 31,395 in 1993. 3) The Kuro Export-processing Complex in Seoul: there was a reduction of personnel from 74,466 in 1987 to 43,357 in august 1995. 4) The Masan Free-trade Zone Fiasco: the number of women workers in the Masan FTZ is rapidly decreasing. The numbers have been steadily decreasing from 28.022 in 1987 to 13,817 in 1990 to 11,286 in 1994 so that the number of workers in 1995 reflect a 40.5% reduction from 1987. On the other hand, the amount of export has grown 145% from 1987. Layoffs and dismissals are being used as tools for the suppression of labour unions, and this is especially the case in the FTZ. Most recently,( Han-guk San-bon), a 100% Japanese capital venture, attempted to break a union affiliated with the Democratic Workers Trade Union(Min-ju No-Chong) by indulging in a three month-long organized campaign of violence against workers and administrators, which completely dissolved the democratically elected executive council so that to this day six people have been fired and fifteen people have been forced to resign.
b. External sub-contracting
Among small to medium sized firms, the percentage of those engaged in sub-contracting have continued to increas In the case of garment work,75% of garment manufacturing firms in 1993 were sub-contractors, and, in the Masan FTZ the number of sub-contracting firms increased from 252 in 1984 to 330 in 1991. Most sub-contracting firms, which are currently unorganized and lack labour union, employ mostly married women.
c. Decreasing number of Regular workers
1) even as the number of women workers has been rising the number of regular workers in general have been diminishing. Specifically in manufacturing industries, the number of regular women workers has been steadily decreasing since 1989. In the textile, garment and leather industries, the number of women workers has decreased 44.6% from the number in 1987. 2) 82.9% of women workers are employed on regular and temporary bases and 17.1% are employed on a daily basis. Consequently, i out of 5 women workers in mining and manufacturing industries are employed on a day-to-day basis.
d. Irregular employment of women workers.
Recently changing employment configurations with the growth of part-time, dispatch, temporary, provisional, service related and contingent jobs have diffused women's importance so that , on the whole, women's occupational formation has been worsening. In reality, such irregular employment discriminates against women workers because they are not covered by the conditions of equality in regular employment such as equivalent work hours and equivalent work load.(irregular employment offers 60% of the wages o regular employment, and does not cover entitlement to various holidays and vacations as well as welfare benefits of regular employment). Furthermore, in the face of the threat of dismissals, they are not free to joining labour unions.
1) Part-time employment: Among part-time workers, women comprise 64.9% compared to 45.9% in 1990 Although the index of the Department of Labor designates part-time employment was working 30.8 hours or less a week, if the hourly wage worker in Korea were to work the identical hours of regular employment, this would for the most part take up all of the nominal hours.
2) Dispatch workers; Presently with the exception of workers in harbors and docks, law enforcement, janitorial and service sector, temporary worker in illegal under existing laws. Nevertheless, the law is disregarded and since there is no monitoring of these illegal service jobs, we can the existence of 300,000 workers in 3,000 service enterprises in 1995. ( according to estimates by the Department of Labour, there were 1,363 sites with 27,072 workers in 1991). Presently, service workers are proliferating widely from agriculture and fishing to clerical fields, and the percentage of women workers in contingent clerical employment is 75%. In spite of such conditions, the government, representing the interests of capital, is planning to pass new legislation regarding contingent employment.
e) Sudden increase in Home-based workers
According to research on the conditions of home-based workers conducted by the Korean Women's Institute, home-based workers are presumed to comprise 9.4 of active economic participants, but it has been to grasp the exact scope of home-based working. We can only see a steady increase of home-based workers consistent with the increase in employment in sub-contracting firms. For the most part, homeworkers are assigned simple and labour-intensive tasks in the labour process, and they are subject to periods of involuntary unemployment. Their job security is very low while their income level is only 68% of other workers. Furthermore,53.1% of home-based workers are women with children under six years of age.
2. PRESENT CONDITIONS OF DISCRIMINATION
2-1. The two Tiered Segmentation of the Labour Market.
As a result of the gendered division and discrimination in the labour market, women are mostly employed in light industries and low-skilled and low-wage occupations. In 1992, women who worked as high ranking officials, specialists or technicians comprised a mere 9.8 % of all working women.
a) Low wages: Women's average monthly earnings are won. 550,615, which do not even measure up to the living expenses for a single person. In addition, the minimum monthly earning from September 1995 to August 1996 is won 288,150, about 50% of women's average monthly earnings. With the exception of a small number of women, most Korean women workers are must struggle in the midst of such low wage realities.
b) Wage Discrimination on the basis of Gender: Wage discrimination on the basis of gender is slowly starting to decrease, but in 1994, the income disparity between men and women was still at 58.6%.(Women's average monthly income was won 550,615 while men's average income was 938,982). However, in the manufacturing industries, women's earnings are slightly below the average numbers and the wage disparity between women and men is at 55.6%. This is due to the fact that for the most part women's rate of employment is related to wage discrimination so that women receive lower wages than men. Also, women's wages are much lower than men's due to further wage disparities based on differences in type of industry, occupational category, level of worker's education and company size. According to the 1989 report,"Research on Gender-Based Wage Disparities"', produced by the Korean Women women development institute, 62.2% of wage disparities between men and women can be attributed to gender discrimination.
2-2. Gender Discrimination in Job Recruitment, Assignment,Training and Promotion.
Even though the Gender Equality in employment Act went into effect in 1988,it has been widely disregarded and the problem of gender discrimination in the workplace is as grave as ever. At the time of job recruitment, men and women are hired in separate occupational categories, and there is assignment of personnel into positions distinguished by gender, with certain restrictions based on physical appearances.
At the time of stationing within the firm, given identical educational backgrounds and qualifications, women are assigned to simple, assistant positions while men assigned to key work positions. Further opportunities for education and training sponsored or subsidized by the employer are more limited for women workers, and there is also gender discrimination in the kinds of education ad training offered.
-opportunities for promotion are almost completely not given to women, and women are restricted from promotion by initial assignment in a prescribed position, and in the case of actual promotion, the terms of the promotion are applied differently for men and women.
2-3. New forms of gender discrimination and indirect discrimination.
to circumvent the gender equality in Employment Act, firms are dividing women into composite general positions, placing most women in the general positions where they perform simple tasks, thus leading inevitably to gender discrimination. In this way, firms can legally systematize discrimination based on gender and educational background; this not only places women into menial positions but induces workers to compete with each other , intensifying labour power.
3. THE PRESENT STATE OF OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING FOR WOMEN
a) In each of the three types of occupational training centers, state,-sponsored, privately-run and corporate-sponsored, the percentage of women participants are as low as ever.
According to Department of Labour records for 1994,: out of 90 state-sponsored training centers, 46 had in operation programs for training women and women comprised 7% of the trainees. Out of 139 privately-run centers, 91 had programs for women and women comprised 22% of the trainees. Out of 239 corporate-sponsored centers, 176 had programs for women and women comprised 17% of the trainees.
b) The quality of job training for women is low by occupational category.
Considering the transformations of job skills and job categories in Korea, the categories for which most women are being trained such as textile, technological-industry, clerical, machine-related and electronic, traditionally considered women's jobs are low level. Such training is insufficient in terms of consideration as special occupational skills. In order to ameliorate the structure of gender discrimination in the marketplace, we need occupational teaching and training oriented towards women. c) In the case of production jobs, there have been layoffs due to deindustrialization, but these workers were not redirected towards re-training for different occupations. In 1993, 0.1% of women workers received occupational re-training for a different job while employed in one job, which workers out to a mere 90persons.
4. HEALTH ISSUES FOR WOMEN WORKERS.
a) Current laws fall greatly short of ILO standards,(for example: Maternity leave covers only 60 days, pregnant women and nursing mothers are asked to work night shifts, and in the case of twins or such , there is no provision for the extension of the maternity leave period).
b) In addition, even the current laws on the matter are not followed. The Labour Standard Act contains provisons that make it possible at any time for women to obtain monthly menstrual leave and release from the Labour Executive. However, at the present, the number of Labour Inspectors is insufficient and there are nearly none designated for small-to-medium size establishments so that the law itself is not being duly implemented.
c). Also, Maternity leave is being under utilized. This reflects the current reality of a dearth of childcare facilities.
d). The period allowed for breast feeding is up to ILO standards, but since there are no firms with breast feeding facilities, there is no effectiveness to the law.
d). The government and business interests have been trying to discontinue monthly menstrual leave which has long been understood as a social means of female and maternity protections in Korea. Monthly menstrual leave is a perpetual necessity, especially in compensation for the realities of gender discrimination such as low wages, long work hours, inadequate vacation and the holiday breaks, and deficient social supports for leading compatible family and work lives. Also, in the case of organized business enterprises, only 20% of such firms presently implement monthly menstrual leave, and it is virtually never implemented in the unorganized firms. The most representatives reason for the inability of women workers to freely make use of menstrual leave is that firms do not offer them properly and regularly, and since alternative sources of labour are not employed, it would place an extra burden on the workload of co-workers.
4-1. OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE.
a) Even after the 1987 incident in which an 18 years old female worker committed suicide after suffering partial paralysis from working wit organic solvents, there has been no end to cases of groups of women workers poisoned by TORLUEN? and mercury. Also, there has been continuous incidents involving ear-related illnesses at the Telephone Operators, and in July of 1995, there was an out break of occupational disease from solvent poisoning. About 23 male and female workers at LG Electronics at Yong-san developed occupational disease that have left them with no hopes for normal conception, pregnancy, or ovulation, requiring them to take prescribed hormone treatments for the rest of their lives. Among these workers, 70% were women in their early twenties. These workers worked alternating 12 hour shifts, and the company was not only careless in directing them in the handing of these organic solvents but violated the Industrial Safety and Health law, inflicting fatal psychological and physiological impediments on these women workers. the above incidents are representative examples of the realities of women workers and their job-related disease.
b). Statistical Date on Women's Job-related disease.
Statistically, the out break of women's job-related disease appear as merely 2%. the reason is that since marriage and pregnancy-related retirements are still very conventional for women workers, unless there is an out break, incidents involving collective poisoning from toxic chemical substances tend to be covered up.
Although there has been a decreasing trend since 1983, the industrial safety and hygiene act does not apply to firms with less than 5 employees, and in 1995, 85% of occupational accident firms violated the law.
PUBLIC WEFARE POLICY
1) Social Insurance;
At present, there are four types of insurance in operation: the national persion, Occupational savey and accident insurance, medican insurance,, and employment insurance.
a) Since firms with less than five employees are exempt, insurance benefits apply to only 30% of women workers. Especially in the case of employment insurance which has been in operation since July 1995, unemployment pay only applies to firms with more than 30 employees, and employment security and job skills development applies only to firms with morethan 70 employees, so that only around 10% of women workers receive complete insurance benefits.
b) Irregular employees are exempted.
c) Occupational savety and accident insurance takes the dath or injury of the male head of household as the standard so that there is also gender discrimination in the arena of surviving gamily members.
d) Since a subsidy system for child-rearing and for company based child-care facilities, including the salary of the caretaker, are supported by employment insurance, income security during the period of chil-care leave is not being implemented.
2) Social Wefare Services.
a) Nursery Facilities.
In June 1995, there were 269,538 children in nurseries at 8, 129 worksites.(compared to 1994, there has been a 16.5% increase in the numbers of facilities and 23% increase in the numbers of children). The government-estimated average subside for child-care support is only 26% of the actual costs of utilization.
There is no support for private establishments which comprise 50% of all nurseries, and Korea's child-care policy places primary responsiblility on the demand who need the facility, private nurseries tend to be a stronger force than public ones.
b) Childcare facilities for the period following dismissal.
Some well-meaning acivists have experience in operating a study-room in a low-income neighborhood.
Up until February 1995, the government had operated a model center, but at the present, the government merely acknowledges the necessity for childcare centers and does not have any concrete plans for the proliferation of more center.
c) In-school Meal Service.
In spite of government plans to put in school meal service into full-scale operation in elementary schools( the level of compulsory education in Korea) by 1997 and in 50% of middle and high schools in fishing and farming villages by 1998, presently in 1995, only 57.4% of elementary schools in fishing and farming villages by 1998, presently in 1995, only 57.4% of elementary schools have meal services in operation and only 38.6% o students receive the benefits of this service. The problem is that since the government's financial support has been so passive, the burden of the costs of building and equiping the in school meal service facilities has been placed on the parents so that in reality on a nation-wide scale, they are shouldering from 50% to as high as 90% of these costs. Furthermore, there are not any concrete programs to set up in school meal services for middle and high schools in the farming villages.
d) In 1995, women's public welfare budget comprised only 5.3% of the budget of the Department of Health and Welfare, and the expense for social welfare are 1% of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP), so that the level of welfare provisions in Korea is 32nd internationally. Consequently, the Korean Women's have been pressuring the government, agitating for the welfare budget to be 5% of the GDP, and they are also demanding that every year for the next five years, the welfare budget should be increased by at least 40%.
MIGRANT WOMEN WORKERS IN KOREA
The number of legal industrial trainees in 1994 was estimated to be 28,328 (37.3% of all Migrant workers in Korea) with the number of ellegally employed workers estimated to be 47,535(62.7% of all foreign workers in Korea). Of these, 70% are engaged in the manufacturing industry, and 25% are women.
The Korean NGOs estimate the nember of migrant workers to be around 170,000. Legal limits on wages and work hours are no applied for these foreign workers. Also they must suffer the pains of wage garnishment, violence, and physical confinement, and in the case of women, they are being subject to sexual violence. In July 1996, the government extended the training period for industrial trainess from 2 to 3 years, and announced pland to receive 10,000 more workers in the second half of 1996, so that we can anticipate that the number of foreign workers will continue to increase.
THE WOMEN WORKERS ORGANIZED STATUS
The percentage of organized women workers is 9% only.
Although there was a large increase in labor organization due to the opportunity opened up by the mass labour struggles of 1987, after reaching a peak in 1989, there has been a decreasing trend. Although the total percentage of labour organization in 1994 was 14.5%, the percentage of women's labour organization much lower at 9%. Meanwhile, women workers comprise 22% of all organized workers.
There has been a rapid decrease in the numbers of union members in the fishing industry, but in contrast, the number of union members in the clerical field has been increasing. This is a reflection of the industrial structure and the employment structure, and at the same time it can be analyzed as a prime factor in the increase of personnel cutbacks, temporary suspensions,permanent closures, overseas relocations and irregular forms of employment in fields traditionally considered women'swork.
Exempting hospitals where women union members make up 75% in other labour unions where women members comprise 23-29% of the total membership, the number of women in leadership or executive positions is only 1.9%.
THE WOMEN WORKERS MOVEMENT IN KOREA(9/95-7/96)
a) Criticisms of government policy
Policy on women's employment, which is based on the logic of weakening the currency, is worsening the unstable conditions faced by women workers.
The bases for policy-making on women workers have been the relaxation of regulations and controls geared towards strengthening a firm's competitiveness along with a soft currency strategy to make labour supply and demand more elastic. That is to say that the abundant reserve of labour power in the past, which served as the foundation for economic growth, has reached a limit, and businesses are recruiting irregular workers to cut down on wage in such a policy context, there are drives for the legalisation of contingent workers, enactment of laws on hourly wage workers, introduction of regulated dismissals and changes in work conditions.
Rather than thinking of the expansion of child-care facilities as a social issue, it is viewed as relavant only to the limited population of married women.
3) The Progress of Actions to Realise the Core Demands of Women Workers
a) For the sake of employment stablility for women workers, many labour and social organizations gathered in September of 1995 for various actions, including a petition drive, public demonstrations, and the delivery of a proposal against the government's push to enact legislation on condingent employment, which has successfully suspended the government's attempts for the time being. Also, there was a public policy debate to criticize the soft currency strategy and to establish policy on women workers.
b) For the purpose of amending the Gender Equality in Employment Law, the Union calling for the Establishment of a Clause in the Scope of the Gender Equality in Employment Law Prohibiting Indirect Forms of Discrimination and Workplace Sexual Harrassment, and Opposed to the Legalization of Contingent Employment, comprised cooperatively of 12 different labour and women's orgnizations, which has staged petition drives, a publicity campaign, a widely distributed poster campaign, and protests in front of the National assembly.
| | |