- a series of Kwon Younggil, Democratic Labor Party’s presidential candidate
On November 8th 2007, Korean Women Workers Association (KWWA) and Korean Women’s Trade Union (KWTU) jointly organized presidential election pledges-delivering symposiums. Under the presidency of Choi Sangrim, chairperson of KWWA, a symposium as the second sequence was held to make women workers’ demands to Kwon Younggil, Democratic Labor Party’s presidential candidate.
Initially, the candidate was supposed to attend the symposium, but instead, Noh Hoe-chan, the election polling committee president, Ae-ja Hyun, a national assembly member belonging to the Health and Welfare Committee, Lee Soo-jung, Seoul Metropolitan Council member, and Park
The Democratic Labor Party presents improving women’s economic and social powers, ensuring women’s rights to security and health, and enhancing gender equal policies as presidential election pledges in the women related areas.
In details, the Democratic Labor Party presents as essential presidential election pledges by session, insuring women’s rights to work, removing women’s poverty and expanding social securities, guaranteeing women’s rights to pregnancy, baby delivery and health, realizing female safe society, guaranteeing social statuses of various forms of families, politicizing women at grassroots levels, and gender equality.
Women workers at the workplace asked the following questions, after the Democratic Labor Party gave a brief presentation about its election pledges:
Q (by Huh Jang-hui, dismissed Lotte Hotel worker): I am undergoing unreasonable minimum wages and insecure employment as a subcontracted worker. Has the Democratic Labor Party prepared for any countermeasure to tackle unreasonable minimum wages and insecure employment and increasing irregular jobs in the public sector?
A: It is desirable that subcontracted workers should be upgraded to directly-employed workers. Mother companies and contractors should be included to the scope of employers. Minimum wages should be increased to 50% of average wages of regular workers, and up to 60% in the long term.
Q (by Kim Eun-sook, assistant of 88CC): Do you have specially-hired workers related policies?
A: Rights to work for specially-hired workers should be guaranteed and labor’s three major rights should be protected.
Q (by Park
A: legal realization of the equal pay for work of equal value is needed. Job evaluation-based wage systems should be implemented in gender-sensitive perspectives.
Q (Um Kyeong-ae, Incheon Women Workers Association): Please tell me how to implement social insurances including reducing social insurance fees and introducing childbirth credits.
A: Many people including farmers, small-size self-employed people, and irregular workers are excluded from the social insecurity system. Achieving their legal statuses as workers is a key point. For example, house caretakers cannot sign secure employment contracts with employers, and the number of job placement agencies is about 7,000 across the nation and among them that of public job centers is 500. However, just 7~80 job centers play a substantial role. The public job center-led reorganization in the house caretaker market should be made. The enactment of gender discrimination prevention laws will increase the current health insurance coverage level to 90% from 60%.
Q (by Hong Seonghee, manager of National Cooperative of House Managers in Ansan): House caretakers’ rights are largely violated. They are not covered by social insurances, working in tough working conditions. They have also experienced severe and forced job allocations. Please tell me how to decrease harmful paid job placement agencies?
Q (Kim Ok-hee, member of single parents’ meeting belonging to Ansan Women Workers Association): Do you have any measure to support living costs, medical fees and university tuition fees when single parents receive job training in order to find skilled jobs?
A: We will set up social systems for supporting marginalized single parent families.
Q: Even public jobs created by the government always provide payment in accordance with minimum wages. I wonder why the government establishes the minimum wage system?
A: “Important is what sort of a regime.” I believe it depends on perspectives and philosophy rather than money. In relation to the expansion of social services, it is only Democratic Labor Party that raises issues regarding the employment of social service workers.
Q: Please tell me about discrimination against irregular workers at schools.
A: Even we wonder if relevant polices are feasible even though they were discussed. That’s why, we have prepared reliable budgeting since the presidential election in 2002. (Equal pays for) irregular workers in the public sector are viewed as possibly insured from the budget. However assistance for irregular workers in the private sector should be made, and especially for those who are working at very small size companies with less than 100 workers. The regularization of irregular workers in the public sector is feasible from the current national budget.
Q: Please tell me about your plan to remove gaps in education.
A: I think (policy-making in) education is up to perspectives: some view it as a product, others as a public service and welfare. Korean public share in the field of education is 30%. In
Q: Please tell me about your measurements in housing.
At the end, the tree of hope conveying the voices of women workers was given as presidential agendas, to the Democratic Labor Party. Women workers’ voices must be heard as Democratic Labor Party’s good policies in practice.
Note taken and summarized by Shin MyungJin