[vol.10] Voices from the Field_ Revision of the Labour Law and Women Workers: How has the revised labour law had an effect on women workers?
WORKING WOMAN 2008. 3. 20. 11:17Hyun-Mi Park
"Union pluralism" at the federal level is eventually allowed but at the enterprise level it is allowed 5 years later.
I am very upset by the fact that the agreement between the government, employers and employees reached as a result of six month discussion, were totally ignored while people have still put their great concern, and that the revised labour law was a worsened anti-worker labour law. People in almost all sectors including workers, scholars, journalists began to protest against the revision.
Massive nationwide rallies have been held, which reminds me of the Workers' Struggle in 1987 in Korea. There is a high level of nationwide consent that the government and the ruling party should be punished.
Wednesday rallies have been carried out in each region across the nation, and national level Saturday rallies have continued to go on until this March in Jongmyo, the Pagoda Park and the Myongdong Cathedral.
In February 25, 1997 president Kim made an official apology to people for railroading the labour law, but he did not show the will to reform the labor law.
Women workers have been victimized owing to industrial restructuring which was carried out especially in 1989 and 1990. If the labor law railroaded by the government and the ruling party is not reformed, women workers will be more badly disadvantaged.
Women workers are put in the condition in which they cannot easily find jobs although they are willing to work, due to the fact that they are in lack of adequate vocational information and training, and very poor quality of social welfare services. Most working women work on a casual and/or part-time basis, they feel extremely unstable employment. Regular and full-time women workers experience discrimination in workplaces by men, and their maternity is largely ignored.
Additionally, they are continuously threatened due to their child-caring responsibilities.
Let's look at details of the railroaded labour law that menace women workers' rights to survive, right of collective action and that of organization and that makes women workers undergo job insecurity.
- Variable Working Hour System
- Lay-off System
The clause of the 'lay-off system', which is "redundancy when the company is going through management hardship" is newly legislated. The implementation of new clause is delayed 2 years after.
It is needless to say that women workers mostly will be victimized under the system. Women workers were the most adversely affected by several industrial restructuring previously conducted by the government in the name of "economic development."
It was not so long ago when women workers in the textile industry in Daegu, those in the Export Processing Zone in Masan, those in the shoe industry in Pusan, and women workers who work in the garment, electronics and shoe industry across the nation, have furiously and strongly carried out struggles against their dismissals, which went on for some months through over a year.
Due to cultural norm that men are breadwinners and women are secondary earners, women are viewed as unskilled and semiskilled workers. In this light, women are certainly projected to be the mainly victimized by the lay-off system and as a result, they will be projected to be seriously vulnerable to unstable employment.
The gender hierarchy that men are regular workers and women are mostly irregular workers would be restructured in the labour market, so women, especially married women workers will confront great difficulties in finding a job, when compared to unmarried women.
- Other details of the labor law
Proposal of the labour law made by the government, seemed to allow teachers to join labor unions through the enactment of laws related to teachers' rights, but it proposed that their freedom of association would be delayed for 2 years. However, during railroading the law, this was not brought up for discussion, and any rights for teachers related unionism were not discussed. So workers are very angry with that.
In regard to the third party intervention, the followings are removed from the categories of 'third parties': "the federation or confederation to which the concerned labor union affiliated" and "any person who have legitimate authority in accordance with the law".
However, the third party intervention maintains its 'basic principle' of the prohibition from assistance outsides including "the persons registered by the concerned trade union and employers with the Labour Minister to receive assistance."
Additionally, despite the deletion of prohibition of political activities of labor union, the 'Political Fund Law' and the 'Election Management Law' still prevent labor unions from supporting certain political party and raising political funds.
The union membership of dismissed workers under this labour law is recognised only until the Central Labor Relations Commission removes their membership. However, previously their status could be maintained until the Supreme court makes decision against dismissed workers, which shows that the changed clauses deteriorate.
The principle of 'no work no pay' is documented on the demand of employers. Wildcat strikes and labour disputes of threatening social orders are banned and punishable. Controlling, managing and guiding workers are the responsibility of labour unions, so they can be punished in case. And, strikes in the important production facilities are banned and picketing of workplaces are restricted.
In relation to replacement of striking workers, workers in the same company, and who are non-union members are allowed to replace them and in reality, subcontracting during a period of dispute is also allowed.
As described above, the amendment of the labour law, which had drawn attention but was being railroaded in the twinkling of an eye and this betrayed people's expectation. Further, even in March, context of the railroaded labour law is not enhanced through its enforcement ordinance, and the labour law is in the "vacancy" of its effectiveness.
Negotiation between political parties is prolonged to March 8, 1997. However, this move is not more than political gesture for calculating political parties' interests.
I think the time is close to complete our finishing touch of our struggles for revision of an anti-worker labor law. Let's put our more efforts to win victory of gaining a pro-worker labor law.
The variable working hour system is categorized into flexible work hours and flexible work time. "Flexible work hours" allows employers to demand workers to work over 44 hours without paying any overtime rate.(The weekly working hours remain within the legally stipulated 44 hours.)
"Flexible work time" allows employers to force workers to clock-in and to clock-out over 8 hours a day and 44 working hours a week, if an agreement between the employers and workers is made.
The variable working hour system was introduced in the 80s in Korea. But it caused serious labor problems such as increases in industrial accidents and decreases in productivity, and so it was abolished. Under the variable working hour system more difficulties in organizing workers are projected under the system, because workers can be allocated to work in different assembly lines in different work time.
Presently, only 10% of Korean women workers are organized into labor unions, and so the system will possibly worsen union membership of women workers.