[vol.10] Voices from the Field_ BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITY FOR STRUGGLING AGAINST INTENTIONAL DISHONOR
WORKING WOMAN 2008. 3. 20. 11:14Hyn-mi Kim (union member of the Samji industry)
The total amount of retirement fund and delayed wages for all of 129 employees are 76 million won. However, what seemed suspicious from bank's search on the company is that the amount of dishonored bill is just 24 million won.
Also, the company president Jung-soo Lee has already changed the name of all of his properties to his wife's and child's names two months before the dishonor, and he had a legal divorce with his wife after a month of that. As a result, this sees obviously as an intentional dishonor.
We thought we could get back all our money through legal procedure. However, another fact came out by the prosecutor was that bank was the first in hand when the auction for the company building and land was held, because they had been put in the fixed collateral before 1989.
Every worker was in dispair by the fact. Who would protect us when even law cannot? This means that we had to find ourselves a way to get out of it.
We organized teams to find the president and made advertisements to distribute. We visited even the police and the Ministry of Labor. Since the company president has prepared the dishonor for a long time, he did not make any pay of employment insurance, medical insurance and pension for workers.
Phone bill and even bills for buying stationery is not paid. Because of 30 million won of electricity bill was left behind, we have stayed cold from the seven day in the chilly winter when the dishonor had occurred.
Finally on December 9, 1996 to solve our living problems we rented a generator for producing some limited amounts of half-finished lighters, and on December 21 we successfully finished our one-day wine-selling market as means of making money for continuing our struggles.
Although the labor law and social security law were passed in a hurry, we fought against the labor law with other workers. In December and January, payment for our costs of living were made twice, but we had to make a big decision because there were no products left. The president who had run away was not caught and the police and the office of Labor were busy just making excuses.
Finally 40 people left decided to take further fight, and so for this, we held climbing mountain competition on January 31, 1997. We set up the first step to take a legal procedure about the dishonor, unpaid salary and retirement fund; the second step to secure our rights to survive; and the third step to fight until the problems related to dishonor are solved.
We started to take legal steps through the auction from March, but there was not anything left for us. So the main things in our three-step struggle were to persuade the Office of Labor and the Police to settle the dishonor and to catch the president.
To catch him we went around Sadang-dong and Bangbae-dong as well as Chungju, Taejon and Pusan (wherever he may appear) in holiday. On February 17, we visited the Office of Labor. Although officers of the Labor who should work for workers, were discontent with our activities and did nothing for workers for the last three months, they disturbed our attempt to enter the building.
So, physical fight took place and then a woman worker cried out of the despair: "why is it illegal for us labourers to go into this office for labourers?"
She said that these policemen who are not letting us in, could have caught over tens of bad people like the president if they were put around his house. When a policeman threatened her saying that she could get hurt if she would not go back home immediately, she answered that she would die here rather than just go back home. Scared with her remark, the policemen and officers ran away into the building. Since that day, we have undertaken strikes before the office.
We also went around by election camps for the district of Incheon Seo-gu. We had a small celebration to commemorate solidarity of the laborers in other companies who gave us much help, on the 100th day of our struggle. Some married women workers performed a drama for our struggle against the dishonor and sang a song which make us stronger.
At the initial stage, we argued about whether our struggle should be for getting back our money or not. But now, we aimed at building beautiful community, through understanding one another.
The three-month struggle has provided the chance for us to get into one. And through this we will win at this battle. Although our ways would be harsher, all of us will overcome all hardship.