[vol.27] Voice3_For A World With Equal Treatment

For A World With Equal Treatment

Doh, Jae-geum ● head of the Kyongbok University Branch Union, Daegu Branch of the KWTU

A Hard Life
I was the only daughter in the family and I grew up with four other brothers. I thought I could reach for the skies and achieve anything but what a life this has been!
Whoever made my life this way? I was only 25 when I moved to Gumi with my husband who was a government employee. My husband started his own business and died when I was 38. I tried to run the business but failed. I moved to Daegu in 1984 with my three young children and started from scratch,
I had to work everyday. Because my children had to eat. I worked as a cleaning lady in a rice refinery, as a private nurse and again as a cleaning lady. I have been paying my pension since the national pension fund has been introduced but I would only be getting only 19,700 won a month after the age of 65. How am I going to survive?

There is still hope left
I lived very frugally and so I could feed my children. I only paid for the university entry fees and my two sons paid their way through the university. My children grew up well despite the hardship. It always pains me to think of my daughter who I could not afford to send to the university.
My daughter married five years ago and my eldest son is getting married soon. I felt that I could still work at the age of 58 and asked for an extension of the retirement age but was refused. Last July, I met with the KWTU and asked if I could get an extension if I joined the union.

The union is my greatest pride
I suffered much after I started the union but I kept in mind what my son told me -  “Mother, you have not done much good to other people in your life so far. You have nothing to be afraid of. If everything goes right, them you have a few more years to work and if something goes wrong, then you can just leave." Of course, everything could not have been possible without the help of the KWTU.
The formation of the Kyongbok University Branch Union  is the pride of my life. I have lived more than I would live in the future but now I feel as if I am living a second life.

For a World That Treats People Equally
With the formation of the union, we received bonuses for the first time in our work as cleaning workers. We received better treatment and our retirement age was extended to 63. In our upcoming contract renewal in 2002, it is possible that we would be categorized as daily workers and cleaners in charge of big campus buildings (libraries, science buildings) might be directly employed. The night sentry guards were strengthened by the formation of our union and formed a maintenance union themselves.

Timeline of Struggle   May  5  ○ women  came for consultation about the possibility of retirement age extension and                    became members of KWTU   July       ○ 48 women workers became members of KWTU   July  21  ○  pressure from contracting company to members to leave KWTU   Aug   7   ○  Doh, Jae-geum & JOH, Chun-hwa asked to appear in a disciplinary committee for                      reasons of disobeying orders, non-cooperation in work, undertaking sales work                      during working hours, bad language   Aug   8  ○  Attended 1st disciplinary committee and protested against the unfair accusations.                     Submitted a formal letter asking the disciplinary committee to open negotiations                      with the union   Aug  13  ○  2nd  disciplinary committee   Aug  14  ○  the head of the contracting company came and promised 5months' of wages and                      unemployment pay if they leave quietly     Aug  16  ○  applied for relief measures of unfair labor activities   Aug  17  ○  received notice of dismissal   Aug  20  ○  the inauguration of the Kyongbok University branch union. morning struggle to go                      to work with the Daegu branch of the KWTU, putting up publicity posters   Aug  21  ○  applied for relief measures of unfair dismissal   Aug  22  ○  new cleaners arrived. company people came and promised 5 months of pay and                      unemployment pay if they resigned   Aug  23  ○  Morning struggle to go to work with members of the Daegu branch of the KWTU   Aug  27  ○  petitioned the local labor office for unpaid wages (amount that was less than the                      legal minimum wage, and other benefits)   Sept  5  ○  protest rally‘Stop the oppression against the Kyongbok university union and                      against unfair dismissal’   Sept  6  ○  visited the local labor office on the matter of unpaid wages and submitted a petition                      on unfair treatment   Sept  12  ○  submitted details of unpaid wages to the local labor office and reported the                       contracting company to the Minimum Wage Commission   Sept  13  ○  attended session at the local labor office (on the matters of unfair treatment and                       unfair dismissal)   Sept  17  ○  audit by the Kyongbok University Educational Commission                                     campaign irregular women workers (monitoring the audit, protest rallies, etc)   Sept  18  ○  visited local labor office (on the matter of unpaid wages of 93,000 won each and                       unpaid menstruation leave)   Sept  24  ○  Rally by irregular workers   Oct   23   ○  success for union members - the local labor office judges in favor of the union   Nov    1   ○  workers reinstated   Nov    5   ○  dismissed workers reimbursed with their salaries   Nov  12   ○  Dept of Working Women warns ”Kyongbok University to stop its gender                       discriminatory practices of retirement age”