1. Background of Hotline for Equality (Equaline)
Equaline was opened in five branches of KWWAU (Seoul, Inchon, Masan, Kwangju, and Pusan) in October of 1995 and now expanded to other three branches (North Cholla, Ansan, and Buchon). KWWAU has given training programs to counselors in each branch twice a year and published case study books based on counseling cases from all branches every year. Besides 8 branches, KWWAU also helps other organizations open a counseling center for women workers by exchanging information and advice.
Equaline wants to solve the problems and difficulties that working women face today. Equaline gives counseling to women workers who seek for advice and help from employment insecurity, gender discrimination at workplace, maternity protection, sexual harassment and verbal/physical violence at workplace, and occupational disease. Equaline also counsels women workers who asks for advice about obtaining jobs, difficulties with jobs and colleagues, and unjust labor practices and explains how to organize a trade union and how to secure basic rights of workers. Especially, the recent economic slowdown made female labor periphery and irregular workers so that Equaline now concentrates on the protection of women workers' rights.
In addition to counseling, Equaline holds public hearings and urges the Government to make proper policies for women workers as well as makes Equaline public and develops training programs.
2. Main Activities of Equaline
1) Counseling
* Free counseling for legal advice : women workers get legal advice for free who are suffering from backwage, dismissal, temporary job status, forced resignation on marriage, discriminative earlier resignation and so on.
* Maternity Protection : women workers get counseling on protection of pregnant women workers, menstrual leave, miscarriage leave, and delivery leave.
* Child Care leave and facilities at workplace : women workers get support to improve the conditions of child care facilities at workplace.
* Equal rights as workers : women workers get counseling on gender discrimination of recruitment, employment, promotion, education, discriminative wage and bonus gap, forced resignation on marriage and discriminative earlier resignation.
* Unstable employment : temporary and subcontract women workers get information on their rights protected by labor laws in case of plants closure, plants dislocation, layoffs, and dismissal and women workers can be protected and enjoy healthy lives through counseling on occupational disease, harmful chemicals and poor working conditions.
* Counseling on basic rights of workers : women workers get counseling on unjust labor practices, backwage, sexual harassment, assistance for establishment and activities of trade unions.
2) Training programs : Equaline holds training programs for counselors twice a year and supports education for women trade union members.
3) Development of women-friendly policies : Equaline develops proper policies for women workers to expand the coverage of maternity protection and to secure equal working conditions for both women and men.
4) Publication : Equaline publishes case study books based on counseling cases from all Equalines and holds a report announcement for the case study book. Equaline also holds seminars to discuss the problems of women workers and provides materials for the trade unions and labor organizations. | |
