Politics of Justice and Equality Changes My Life!: a press conference was held to celebrate Women's Labor Politic Action (at 11am, September 25, 2012)

 

Women's Labor Politic Action (WLPA) was launched and a press conference was held, to improve women workers' livelihood through just wealth distribution and equal workplace creation.

 

Women's labor women's politics~ kangkangsoollae*~ Today we declare~ kangkangsoollae~

 

Women-centered welfare nation~ kangkangsoollae~ For economic democracy women' re essential~ kangkangsoollae~(*kangkangsoollae is a refrain of a Korean traditional song. Initially, the song was sung and danced mainly women during a war with Japan, in order that women could check if Japanese soldiers were around.)

 

Past September 25, 2012, in front of Lee Soon-shin Statute in the Kwang-wha-mum on a warm and sunny day, women wearing Korean traditional costumes were doing 'horse dance' when they did 'kangkangsoollae‘ dance.

 

Why they were doing kangkangsoollae dance merrily was to launch Women's Labor Politic Action (WLPA) for changing women workers' lives. WLPA is an organization for practicing everyday's politics and preparing for the new government which will be started in 2013. We, at the WLPA made resolutions and declared to demand pro-active policies for women workers and political intervention and mediation activities in order to realize women workers' demands.

 

First of all, the presidential election is just around the corner. We at the WLPA will work hard, to let presidential candidates know women workers' 4 major policy aims and 10 policy tasks, and to have women workers' demands reflected on policies for women workers.

 

4 Policy Aims	10 Policy Tasks
Decrease the wage gaps and upgrade women's wages to the OECD average levels.	Ensure and upgrade low-wage care workers' wages to 80% of average wages (about 1.9 million Won).
	Upgrade the minimum wage to 50% of average monthly wages; and expand supports for covering 4 social safety nets.
	Implement and practice affirmative actions for women: 30% of women directors in the public sector and 20% of women directors in the private sector.
Half the number of irregular women workers.	Half the number of irregular women workers. (Regularize 100% of irregular workers in the public sector; and ban the use of irregular workers in the public sector.)
	Accept the use of indirectly employed workers at mother companies; and employ workers directly in the public sector.
	Provide 3 labor rights to specially employed workers through the expansion of the definition of 'workers', in order to recognize the right to work for specially-employed workers.
Upgrade Korean women's employment rate to the average level of OECD, which is world's worst.	Prevent women's career interruptions through ensuring the use of maternity leaves and parental leaves for irregular workers and the workers working at very small companies.
	The government should create care-related jobs directly, and so upgrade the employment rate in the social service to the average of OECD.
Balance their jobs and family work through their working and caring together.	Decline real working hours to balance women's jobs and family work; and socially recognize males' childcare rights (through the introduction of (infant-care paternity leave system for males)
	Increase national and public childcare centers up to 30%, which accounts for only 5.3%; and provide public care services to single parents and two paycheck couples.

 

[Declaration for the launching of Women's Labor Politic Action]
Under the flag of Justice and Equality, we want politics to change our lives!

 

In 2012, Korea is being swamped with voices and avouchment that only they can make people happy. There are a diverse of 'rosy' promises of economic democracy and welfare state. However, they don't understand women workers' real states or think over the alternative for women workers, either.

 

We, Korean women workers have tried hard to survive, through our repeated entering and going out of the labor market across their life span: in our 20s, we have to do our best to enter into the narrow labor market; in our 30s, we are dismissed due to our child-birth and childcare matters. After our 40s, we have to find low-paying jobs as irregular workers due to our career breaks. As a result, women experience chronic poverty. Women breadwinners' poverty rate is three times as high as male counterparts. Women irregular workers accounts for 60% out of all irregular workers. This is so crucial that it can unroot and destroy our society. In Korea the wage difference by gender is 38.9% which notoriously comes in the first place amongst OECD countries; the use rate of maternity leave by irregular women workers is only 20%, and only 2% of male workers use paternity leave.

 

Since we, Korean women are unorganized and our voices are not loud enough, women workers are in the deepest social swamp in the Korean social structure. What's worse is the MB government has declined the conditions of care jobs in the public service into an indecent job experiencing job insecurity and low wages and has increased the number of time-based irregular jobs, which badly targets women workers, since 2008 when the economic crisis took place in the US. Even in the public sector, it is true that the irregular workers have increased so rapid and dispatched women workers receive very low wages, having poor working conditions, and furthermore, specially employed workers are not covered under the shield of labor laws.

The bi-polarized society leads women workers to the blind spots and doesn't listen to women workers' cries.

 

To tackle this, we at the Korean Women Workers Association (KWWA) and the Korean Women's Trade Union (KWTU) declare to launch Women's Labor Politic Action (WLPA) to demand politicians, which aims to realize women workers' demands. That's because women workers' lives do not change, unless the politics changes, and neither does the society.

 

We at the WLPA declare to work very hard until the happy society is created where just wealth distribution and equal labor come true for women. We will do our best to make politicians respect women voters who are the half of the world. We will endeavor to help women workers to fulfill themselves as voters.  

 

We at the WLPA make four major suggestions to make women workers happy, as follows:

 

1. Decrease gender wage difference to the average level of OECD countries.
2. Decrease irregular women workers to the half.
3. Upgrade to the average level of OECD countries, women's employment rate which is the worst amongst OECD countries.
4. Let's work and care family together through balancing women's jobs and family matters.

 

We demand that the essence of economic democracy and welfare state is to create the happiness and safety of women workers who are put at the lowest on the ladder of social status.

 

Dated September 25, 2012  

 

Women's Labor Politic Action (WLPA) 

 

*KWWA:
SWWA, IWWA, AWWA, PWWA, SuWWA, CWWA, GWWA, Masan-Changwon WWA, BWWA, KyWWA, and DWWA

 

  *KWTU:
Seoul branch, Incheon branch, Kyunggi branch, Daejon & Choongchong branch, North Cholla, Kwangju & South Cholla branch, Daegu & North Kyongsang branch, South Kyongsang, Ulsan branch, and Pusan branch