Approach using small group methodology
kwwa  2002-10-28 14:25:48, 조회 : 390

Approach Using Small Group Methodology - Korea

                                                                                                By Maria Rhie

My present work often takes me around to many Asian countries. On many occasions, organizers I meet expressed that it is difficult to do organizing work. When I share my organizing experiences with them, they usually reply that situation in Korean is different from the situation in their countries. I agree that organizing women workers is difficult. I also admit that the situation in each country is different, yet I believe that despite of our different and difficult situation, an organizer has the role to try to think of a way, an alternative way to organize workers to struggle for a better life. The dedication and commitment to this work is immense and if one has the will, the possibilities will always be there.

In this article, I shall relate my own personal experiences in organizing women workers. I have chosen two different periods of my work-the time when I spent three years in an industrial area in the south of Korea as an organizer to work together with women workers.


BACKGROUND
South Korea embarked on export-oriented industrialization in the 1960s under the dictatorial Park Chung Hee government. Thousands of young women were recruited for their cheap labour in the  factories. Labor organization were placed under strict control. No independent  union was allowed to form. The women workers worked long hours under extreme poor conditions and received very low wages.

In 1970, a young male worker, Chun Tae Il, set himself on fire to protest against the  inhumane conditions of workers shouting: "We are not machines! Improve working conditions! Do not waste my death!" His action forced many students, intellectuals, journalists and religious people to open their eyes to the appalling conditions of workers in Korea. Many of these people took the decision to join in workers movement.

In 1971, the government stepped up its repressive measures by enacting a "Special Law for National Security" which effectively robbed workers of their rights to collective bargaining and collective action.
All labor dispute were severely stopped by the police. Hundreds of activists were imprisoned, students were dismissed from campus while others were fired from their jobs. Exploitation in the workplace intensified and the situation of the workers deteriorated.

I could not ignore what was happening to my people and my country. I could not pretend to sleep when I knew my country people were being imprisoned for the so-called "subversive act" which is no other than fighting for a better humanity. I decided to join the workers' struggle.


Organizing Within the Factory
In 1972. I applied to work in a shoes factory as a workers. There were 2,000 workers in this factory, 80% of whom were young women workers. Everyday we worked 10 to 14 hours with only 40 minutes off for lunch. Sometimes we had to work throughout the night . I was so tired everyday after work that I could not think of  anything except going to sleep. Sometimes I did not even bother to wash myself. My only hope was to have more time to sleep. Everyday I looked forward towards holidays (we had only 2 Sundays off every month) so that I could rest. On Sundays, I did not feel like doing any thing except sleeping, and then there was always my clothes to wash. For my fellow workers, their only hope was to
get married so that they might leave the factory forever. Initially it was difficult to adjust to factory life but the determination to  change their terrible conditions overcame my weakness.]

In the first two years, I did nothing except to observe. Watching with my eyes and listening with my ears, I came to learn of the workers' situation -their hardships, problems and interests. I also learned to communicate in their language. I was able to select 7 women workers. These 7 women became the basis of my organizing work. With my first small group formation, I had put all my energy and commitment
to build up this group.


Our Meetings
For our first meeting, we spent our time chatting and joking. When we finally came to the point of what we were to do in our future meetings, everybody was quiet for a minute. One of them, with whom I had already talked before, suggested that we should talk about our personal lives. Since we did not really know each other well, everyone agreed with the idea. We decided to share about our past, our relationship with our families and our hope for the future.

Sharing the topic, "Who am I" was very good as it brought the group close together. Her desire to share her with life with us made each one of us understand each other. The story about her life made us cry and laugh with her. When it came to my turn to share, I talked about the common life we shared as workers. I found there was no need to bring any theory because from their past lives they have rich
experiences to draw the  discussions upon. The sharing took us two months (one woman sharing per session). It revealed the immense problems suffered by women in relation to the economic and political situation in the country. During the discussions, I constantly raised questions like "What is your hope" Why do we need to have money" Is there any alternative to a workers' life?" They concluded that thet
did not mind working in the  factory but they wanted to have better working conditions.

In the following meetings, we identified many problems in our factory. In fact, there was a trade union in the factory. It was a yellow union. Even though all of us were members of the union, none of us know who were the chairperson of the union. We decided to study the labor law, understand the meaning of trade unions and to discuss how to improve the working conditions in the factory.


Action
We decided to start with a small demand, i.e. to request for more brooms to sweep the working place after each shift and more lights at the working room. We discussed how to raise this demand and decided first to raise it with the other workers. Together we made the request to the management who did not heed our request. After three more requests, the workers decided to take collective action for our demand. We did not clean the working rooms for two days and finally the management accepted our demands. Through this simple action, the workers gained strength and learnt the importance of organizing themselves to solve their problems.

We began to meet more frequently and discussed other problems like working hours, working conditions, provident fund and menstruation leave. We also discussed the need to change the union. Feeling that 7 persons were not enough to fight for our demands, we decided that each one of us would organize a small group. Our activities concentrated on making friends with fellow workers.

The seven of us continued to meet weekly. We shared what happened to our own small group, like how they approached a fellow worker, the difficulties we had, our success in recruiting someone into their groups, etc. We also discussed the method we used, whether it was good or not, and evaluated each other's progress and so on. After a month, most of us managed to set up a small group, each group with 5 to 11 persons.

By this time, I had already spent two years and five months in this factory.
We continued to set up small groups and studied about the labor law. As the number of groups grew, we were more confident of our strength. We decided to lodge a complaint about the long working hours to the Office of Labor Affairs. We wanted to try out the legal way.

A week after our complaint, the management reduced our working hours from 14 hours to 9 hours a day (8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.). We were surprised but happy at the same time. Of course the management questioned the workers to find out who had made the complaint, but there was no trouble getting this demand.

Now that we had more free time, we spent our time organizing. All the groups were delighted with this gain and the small groups strengthened. Some core members then requested me to set up a night school. Since they had more time, they wanted to study. Other workers were also raising the same request. A night school was eventually set up after a local parish offered his place to be used.

To me, I was more concerned about building leadership among members of the core group. During the core group meetings, I tried to teach them all the things I know and to transform them into good leaders. At every meeting, I made sure that each one of the core group member took their turn to chair the meeting. Before the meetings,  I always discussed with the chairperson on how to chair and conduct a
meeting so as to help her to prepare for the exercise.

In my organizing work, I always followed the steps of see, think and act and then ask why, what and how for the action.

There were many successful stories in this factory. When the factory decided to close down one of its biggest section, 1,200 workers joined together to fight for their rights. They managed to negotiate for three months severance pay and provident fund. If some workers wanted to get a job, then the employer had to find her a job. It was a long struggle but their demands were finally met.

After these experiences, the workers saw the importance to take control of the union. They wanted to remove the union leaders and change the structure of the union. At one meeting when we were discussing about who should be the nest union leader, as usual, the core members suggested their male colleagues. So I asked them "Why is it not possible for someone among us to become the union leader?" I  recalled the our first meeting at which we discussed their lives. I made them recall their sharings about their family relationships, father's role and mother's position, and why she had to work in the city to support her brother's schooling, etc. This made them realized that they had to overcome also their role as women. From this experience, I also learnt that it was important not only to improve the
emvironment (e.g. working conditions) but you must also change the person's way of thinking. Women have accepted their conditions without struggling.

When the election time came, the workers elected a male worker as the chairperson of the union. Seventy percent of the remaining executive positions were occupied by women of the small groups.
Through the union they were able to make changes in the factory and even went on to organize workers in other factories in the area.

This period in the factory was an enriching experience because I learnt  about society, the life of workers, the importance to change a person's consciousness and the meaningful life in humanity. More important, it showed the power of women's leadership-that one person can become seven, seven can become hundreds. Today hundreds and thousands of women workers are strugling for changes in their working conditions.

Organizing in an Industrial Area
In 1978, I went to Iri Province, south of Korea. There I spent five years in the Free Trade Zone industrial area. There was hardly any organizing going on and the few unions that existed were yellow unions. Here I did not work in the factory, so I was not in direct contact with the workers. It was therefore more difficult to start organizing work.

My first task was to understand the area and to search where the women workers live, to observe their living conditions, their working conditions and their life style, etc. Everyday, I asked myself a basic question, "How can I understand this environment better so that I can work effectively as and organizer in this area?" I was always thinking, looking and searching to start my work.

One day, I met a young woman workers on the street. She looked very tired. When I tried to talk to her, she just smiled. Every day at about the same time, I went to the street to meet her. After one week, she asked me, "Why are you interested in me?". I invited her  to a tea house and chatted for some time. I told her that I would like to be her friend. After tea, she invited me to her rented room. Her name was Kim.

The second woman I met in the church.  She sat next to me while I was attending a mass and we shared a prayer book. After mass, we introduced ourselves. Her name was Lee. We had lunch together and she told me about herself. She had been working in a Japanese company for 4 years. Both her parents were suffering from an illness She was the main Person supporting her brother and  sister who were still studying. She did  not have any time for herself. Everyday after work, she had to rush home to look after her parents and did all the housework. As I listened I could  not help shedding tears and she also cried. Since then we became close friends and we often went out for tea or went to movies together.

A month later, Lee brought her best friend. Together with Kim, the four of us went to see a movie. After the movie, we went to a restaurant. For two hours we shared about the movie and about ourselves. I could feel the strong bond growing among us.

With this small group, I started by reading a story book and tried to discuss what they felt about the stories. I used various types of audio- visuals to start discussions. All the time I was trying to draw them to reflect on their lives, workers lives, and to make them think that there was an alternative to their lives. After three months, I was able to discuss with them idea of setting up a small study group. They agreed  with the idea.

At our first meeting, each of us brought two more women workers, so the study group started with l2 persons. Most of them worked in different factories in the area. I used slide shows, TV stories and dramas for dlscussion. Everyone was encouraged to express their opinion After these sessions, I started to bring out their own life stories under discussion topics like who am I?, How do other people see you (as a worker)?, how do you see your future lives etc. From the sharing, we discovered a lot of things and drew up other topics
like working conditions, family relationships and their situation as women workers. It was interesting to see how their personal life as well as their consciousness changed.

After six months, we started to discuss how to change the working conditions in their workplace. We studied about the Free Trade Zone and discussed about the possibility of organizing democratic union. Each Member of the group was determined to start e small group in their own workplace. The study
group became a core group for organizing women workers in the Free Trade Zone in Iri area.

In the core groups weekly meetings, we concentrated on what happened to  each one of them in that week, the difficulties within each of their groups,  the mistakes they made, etc. We discussed and gave different ideas to each one on how to cope with her difficulty. If these was time, wen could learn how to conduct a meeting, the meaning of democracy in the union and also in society.

After a year and a half, most of the core members managed to form unions in  their factories. One of the members succeeded to change her (yellow) union  1nto a democratic union She became the first female chairperson of a union  In the FTZ area. Most of them became leaders in workers struggles in the  area. The area was notorious for management brutalities and police repression but the area became exemplary in the emergence of women workers leaders.

In the early 80s, many of these women leaders were dismissed from factories as a result of extreme repression by the government. Today most of these women are married with children but they continue to work in factories. A spirit of camaraderie remains as they keep in touch with each other. They ere still involved in organizing small groups of women workers, with community struggles in their
neighborhood and some are in charge of women workers organizations.

Setting up of a Night school
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After being in Iri for three years, my organizing work proceeding smoothly, I decided to embark on a research project about the working condition in three industrial cities in the province. Students in the area responded promptly by helping in the research and doing interviews. The process enabled the students and the workers to develop a closer relationship. Among the 400 women workers interviewed, the majority requested for a night school.

The workers leaders, students and l got together to discuss the night school project A local parish priest offered us a room for the workers night school. The first intake was a batch of 45 women workers. Five subject's were taught economics' history national language, Han Chinese 1anguage and English. Once a week we had a free session during which the workers  shared about each others lives. Sometimes we
would use newspaper items for discussion. It was an interesting process for both the students who acted as teachers and for the workers who were students. The students later went back to their colleges and universities to organize their fellow students and some of them became activists in the workers movement.

Upon completion of the ten-month course the women workers went on to start drama groups, study groups and some Joined small groups. Whenever the workers had any activities the drama group would be involved in staging dramas related to workers lives.

From this experience I learn that when theory is met with reality and practice, it can be a powerful and strong tool for conscientisation and action

Reflections and conclusion
Altogether I spent fourteen years organizing women workers. I would say that it was a difficult process in which l have learnt and tried to do something. The process of raising the consciousness of the workers is a slow one. Sometimes l despair, but once this process gains momentum, the consciousness of the
women workers can became a powerful force in real life. Today in Korea, thousands of ordinary women workers are involved in struggles for what they believe would brine forth a better humanity.

Organizing work is besetted with frustrations and problems. Learning to overcome these is part of a learning process. For example, when I was organizing women workers in Iri, usually l had to travel for one to two hours to attend the meeting of the core group. Sometimes when only one to two persons turned up, I would become angry and frustrated. But then, my anger would quickly turn into worry when
l thought something could have happened to those who did not turn up. I would write a letter (none of them have telephones) to each of them asking whether they had any problem and told them that I was worried when they could not come for the meeting. I would always receive a phone cell or e letter from
them explaining why they could not come and promise to come at the next meeting. In this way, It enabled the group to build a strong relationship.

On another occasion, a member of the group refused to participate in discussions nor talk at our meetings The group members wanted to drop her from the group. I asked them to be patient. After one meeting, I went with this member to her house and spent time with her. We cooked dinner and watched T.V. I did not attempt to ask her questions. I did this for a week. After a week, she began to open herself
to me. She told me that she felt inadequate in the group. She thought she was not good enough as she had many family problems. After her sharing, she felt much better and the group paid more attention to her. This woman member later became the chairperson of her union and was well-known in the area in her involvement

In my experience, the most important lesson for me is the importance of concentrating on small groups. We should "start small", and from there build strong understanding and support before "thinking big". The rappoeur and close relationships among the group members are very important support for e2ch one
in the group, especially in very rough tines. It was because of this kind of support that the women workers groups in Korea have managed to survive and to grow.

Secondly, 1t 1e important to remember that with theory must come practice. It is only when l got involved that l realized how much more the reality must come into play. Constant thinking, applying and learning to change the reality are life best lessons. I would not say that my method of organizing 1s the only way or the best way, but it was the way that l did proceed and achieved

Author:  Maria Rhle ,aged 37. Is presently the Progremme Coordinator of the Committee for Asian Women.

After-Thoughts:
Today when I 1ook back at my work on organizing women workers, I now realize how critical it was to have incorporate a women's perceptive into the women workers organizing. In feet when I was organizing then, I was not aware of women's Issues. But even then the social reality of the women workers were such that l had to constantly raise the issues of women's social cultural position sociality in my consclous-raising work.

The women workers I was organizing were perpetually inundated with family responsibilities and problems. The women had to send money hone to support their parents and brother's schooling. When l questioned them about their parents, the mother was suffering from overload of farmwork and housework while the father was often drunk, etc.

Later as the women became conscious they were still reluctant to take up leadership positions. The social conditioning and the actual situation of women workers is a great impediment to women workers leadership For those women who finally did come around to accept leadership positions, they were confronted with two decisions, to be able to marry or remain single. Marriage took a big toll on many women workers leaders of the seventies who left the movement because of their family responsibilities. Those few who continued are remained single.

Another setback of the women workers movement in the seventies was a lack of support from the male workers. Even though it was the women who were leading the democratic movement during that period, male workers did not rally to support these women. Instead the management did recruit male workers to sexually abuse, use violence to destroy these unions.

Today despite the growth of the Korean workers movement, the national federation is still largely male-dominated. Male leader have still to recognize the importance of women workers as an integral part of the workers movement. It is not uncommon to hear male union leaders complaining  about lack of women's interest in union activities or that married women cannot take up responsibilities.

Unless male workers accepts and share responsibility, It is clear that women workers will have to leave their union work as sociality expects her to take up household and then child responsibility. Furthermore the union activities are often held after work, when these women have to rush home for their family duties. I have met several women leaders who shared with me their dilemmas of wanting to be active in the union but cannot do so because of household responsibility.

The time will have to come for unions to recognize that women workers Issues are not insignificant, that the unions have to negotiate for child care system, equal wage, breastfeeding time for mothers, etc. to enable both women and men to play a role in the labor movement. Only then only the workers movement be truly democratic.

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