[vol.5] Voices from the Field_EXTENSION OF WORKING HOURS BY 46 MINUTES IS AN OBVIOUS REFORM OF THE SYSTEM.
WORKING WOMAN 2008. 2. 1. 10:38Korea Sony Electronics Association for Workers' Union Democracy
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Sony Workers' Union members block the extension of working hours by 46 minutes.
- Sony 'yellow' workers' union leadership suggested that the working hours system should be reformed by extending working hours by 46 minutes a day, and having Saturday off.
The wage increase struggle of KSE starts every April. The Sony workers' union had drafted a 12% wage increase and collective bargaining agreement through the May 2nd emergency representatives' meeting.
At the meeting, the union leadership did not give any background on the collective bargaining draft and the union president merely gave a short opening speech.
It revealed the real face of the yellow union leadership. At the end of the meeting, the leadership displayed the results of a union members' questionnaire which was carried out in March and decided to reform working hours by extending time by 46 minutes per day and taking Saturday off as part of the collective bargaining draft.
According to them, 76% of union members supported this new system. Moreover, to implement this system the workers would have to start work at 7:42 in the morning. Regarding the new system, there were many questions from the democratic representatives such as, "Is there any alternatives for the workers who do not live close to the factory, and for day-night shift workers?" However, the union president's response to this question was to suggest that workers should move closer to the company, and that there was no other alternative for shift workers.
- Expansion of vocational training for the improvement of the capacities of women
With the 21st century fast approaching, the century of information and technology, women workers cannot remain as minimum wage laborers with low-skilled jobs. Now, working women strongly wish to have a professional lifelong career.
Considering this, the KWWAU will unite with each regional women workers' association to investigate the state of acknowledged vocational training centers within the company, and to draw up plans on the development of women's occupations, encouraging the re-employment of married women and planning specific alternative policies on the expansion of women's vocational training.
- An extension of working hours by 46 minutes is an obvious reform to the system.
We, Sony AWUD, defined this 46 minutes extension as a reformed working hours system, and examined the issue through the problems and influence it would have on union members. Firstly, if the system of starting work 46 minutes earlier is passed, the workers who live a long way from the company and women workers who must accompany their children to school will be forced to leave the company.
Secondly, although the workers work 46 minutes more every day, there would be no overtime work allowance, so it is a new working hours system.
- How the AWUD organised counter-activities against this proposal.
On May 3rd, there was a presentation at the representatives meeting regarding the wage increase and collective bargaining agreement. During the presentation, the union members expressed their complaints about the low wage increase and the extension of working hours by 46 minutes.
Therefore, the union members of Factory 2 started a protest visit to the union office during the lunch break. It was continued for three days with the participation of 40-50 union members. However, this protest visit was organized only in Factory 2. Therefore, the union members in Factory I who had no awareness about the problems which would be caused by the new working hours system were positive about this new system.
Sony AWUD realized the necessity of sharing the problems of the new system with those workers, and distributed a leaflet about this under the name of Sony AWUD, on May 9th, in order to explore the real purpose of the present union leadership. It was only distributed once, but it was very effective.
Since the union members could not get any information regarding the background of the wage increase and collective bargaining agreement this year, the union members were open to receiving the hidden story. Further, a signature campaign against the new system was conducted.
From May 9th to May 12th, 1,100 union members joined in this signature campaign throughout the two factories. While the campaign was going on, the yellow union leadership tried to obstruct it in many ways.
As the signature campaign grew, the Sony workers' union held an executive committee meeting for two days, on May 12th-13th, where the union leadership falsely suggested that they had never finalized the proposal to begin work early to implement the new system.
They decided to punish those three representatives who had conducted the signature campaign. At this point, we, the AWUD, distributed another leaflet which said that the Sony workers union leadership was trying to implement the reformed working hours system which would only give suffering to workers and revealed the real face of the yellow union leadership. The leaflet also confirmed the necessity of AWUD existence.
- The extension of working hours by 46 minutes per day was retracted.
The 1995 wage increase negotiation of KSE was finalized with a one-sided victory to the company. However, the daily 46 minutes working hours extension which was suggested by the present union leadership was turned down due to the protest activities of the union members and AWUD. However, the struggle has not ended yet, and the company will not give up their intention to reform working hours. The company has said the new system will become part of regulations.
Through this struggle, we recognized again the truth of union members' united power. We anticipate our struggle will become harder and harder but we, the Sony Association of Workers' Union Democracy, will unite with workers' struggles in the region as long as workers' suffering exists. Thank you very much for the solidarity from the workers in the region.
The wage and collective bargaining agreement of Korea Sony Electronics was finalized on June 8th. During the negotiations, several protest campaigns against the extension of working hours by 46 minutes had been organized, which finally resulted in the proposed system of working hours not being implemented. Here is a struggle story and its concrete process of how the union members and the Association for Workers' Union Democracy (AWUD) succeeded.