[vol.9] Voices from the Field_ Unjust dismissals should be rectified through full reinstatement
WORKING WOMAN 2008. 3. 20. 11:08Chun Kim
▶ The wish of the dismissed workers is to have a faithful employer who recognises workers rights.
worker has now become a toughened 30-year old. Because she has stood up and fought for her rights over a long period of time, it has made her a more courageous person than before.
LG (Lucky Goldstar), which advertises itself as a company which "serves their customers best", violently broke the democratic labour union which was legally formed by the workers. LG Electrical Goods in Kwangju has dismissed a total of nine people who have begun a reinstatement struggle for workers dismissed since 1990. For example, Ms Chun Kim was dismissed while holding a position in the labour union executive.
After her dismissal, because of the circulation of a blacklist, re-employment was impossible so she has had to work in temporary positions while at the same time continuing her reinstatement struggle. Since 1991 she has been carrying on the struggle through litigation.
On March 10, 1993 the Minister of Labor, Lee, In-Jae, announced the promise of the reinstatement of some 5200 workers who had been dismissed in the 5th and 6th Republics in relation to union activities. The dismissed workers, with renewed hope, handed in their reinstatement requests to their former companies and the Ministry of Labor.
The dismissed workers who had been carrying out group activities all gathered and dreamed of their reinstatement. However the civilian government did not keep their promise.
The promise could not be realized because of its rejection by the company, so the promise became just another empty political assertion. The dismissal issue should be handled in a humane way. For mature relations between labor and management, a change in the attitude about third party intervention is desperately needed. The reform of labour management relations carried forward by the Kim, Young-sam government is hardly successful.
Chun Kim, whose eyes glittered with tears when she was reminded of her family during the interview, is known as a genuine and good person. Even the company says that "we did not expect someone like Kim would act in this way."
She is still a good and genuineperson but now she has become a stronger more courageous person. Chun Kim's hope, after she is reinstated, is to form a democratic union. In May 1996 as a result of the continuing struggle of the dismissed workers a Preparatory Committee for a democratic labour union was set up.
The wish of the dismissed workers is to have a faithful employer who recognises workers rights. Unless the meaning behind the old proverb that, "the master of the working field is not money but truth" is reflected deeply in society, more workers will continue to be dismissed. We hope to see the caring dismissed workers cooperating together with one mind as a sit-in struggle continues against the LG group.