I will never give up…
Jung, Yongja retired employee, Bucheon 00 Sewing Factory
The retirement allowance that never came
The sewing factory I worked for was not a small company by all means. There were more than 100 employees but with myself included, were all in their 50s and a few were even in their 70s.
There were relatively very few young people in the factory. And maybe that was why nothing was observed. There was no explanation forms detailing our wages per item and the monthly allowances promised for a full-month of work was never given out. What else can you expect from such a company? The basic wage was 438,000 won and a little added after overtime but no one complained and just went on working. The younger workers would move to another workplace if more wages were guaranteed based on their experience in our factory.
I worked for 3 years until a personal accident occurred and prevented me from working. I was hospitalized for a long time and in cases like mine, the factory had automatically dismissed the workers and I, too, met with the same fate.
However, the problem was with my retirement allowance which was not recompensed as time went by. Feeling frustrated I went to the factory and was told that retirement allowance was paid out three months after dismissal and overdue wages two months later. That was the company law I was told. I asked the secretary for the details of my retirement allowance and found the amount to be lesser than I thought.
Counseling by the Bucheon branches of the KWWAU & KWTU
I thought to myself that this could not be possible and decided to go for counseling at the Bucheon branches of the KWWAU and KWTU. As a result, I received my full retirement allowance, overdue wages and for the first time in my life, yearly allowances as well.
It was not very easy in the beginning. When I went to submit my appeal at the Bucheon Regional labor Office, I was so badly treated that I wondered why I was doing such a thing. Not all was bad but the first day at the place called Department of Labor, was really frightening. I wondered if I should give up but I remembered that I had done nothing harmful to the company and realized that it had no right to treat me so badly and I decided to go ahead with my appeal. I went with a colleague who had been dismissed at the same time and she wanted me to give up what I was doing.
I told the same story to the Bucheon branches of the KWWAU and the KWTU and they reassured me by saying that they would accompany me to the Department of Labor and even to the company if the need arose. I have always felt proud that I have never inconvenienced anyone in my life but I felt scared in such a situation and knowing the company, I really wondered if all would be possible. I was really heartened by their support and they accompanied me to the Department of Labor and fought with the company on my behalf.
Received overdue wages, full retirement allowance & yearly allowance
I was scared but I told my story and two investigations took place but the company still refused to pay. It was just for a few days but drained me so emotionally that I could not even go for my hospital treatment. The company owner had frequently said ‘Go and try to fight with the law. I know many people at the Department of Labor and the Blue House’. True to his word, I thought this fight would be useless.
On the last day of the meeting with the Department of Labor and the company, I received a phone call from the Bucheon branch, asking if I had a small recorder by any chance. I replied that I had a broken one at home and was told to bring it to the meeting. I was told to place the recorder in my upper pocket and to touch it a few times when the supervisor and the company personnel were talking. I was told to show the recorder to them and say just one sentence - that I would sue them. And the next day, the company recompensed me with my overdue wages, full retirement and yearly allowances.
I realized now that it had not been easy and I am just proud to have bolstered myself again and again after feeling hopeless about the whole thing. I
am proud that I could actually give hope
to other people. This experience which had occurred to me in my fifties has given new meaning to my life.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has taken my affair so much to heart and giving hope to every worker in need.