▶Hea-Ran happy picnic.

"Let's stand up, and sing and dance together !"

April, 12th was the remarkable day to meet the ten years' anniversary of Women's Labor Union. When the music concert started after a play, Lee, Hye-rahn who has acted as a heroin at the play turned up on the stage. First, she danced by herself in the excess of mirth and then, induced people to stand up and excited the atmosphere. It was a time for her 'nature' to move up and coordinate with the excitement at that moment.

Bankrupt and Lost Everything.

She was born as an eldest daughter of her father who had damaged by President Park government once with 4 other sisters and 1 brother. However, she was a 'good' student before her father failed in business at her 18's. Then, her family lost everything and they moved to a humble house.

She had to go to a university which gave her a scholarship and even after enrollment she was always trying to get a scholarship. From her childhood, she loved to show herself on the people and she found out a 'Korean traditional masked dance group' in the university. She acted in that group with enthusiasm for 1 year and concerned in student movement. As soon as graduate from university, she entered into a 'real' social movement.

Then, she had to decide her way to go on as a social movement activist or to get a job and support her family.

Flaming Eyes of Laborers

One day during that time, she met a chance to make her to determine her way definitely. That happened when she participated in an assembly held by Seoul Trade Union and faced the laborer's fervent eyes.

That's how she got to take the 'culture' department of Seoul Women's Labor Union from the beginning. She recalled that time as the happiest moment in her life. She completed several works like 'We'll win a victory.", "go to the mine." and "Union gives much power."

She got out from S. L. U. and established "Women's Culture and Art Planning Organization" in may, 1991.

Then, she went through hard times because there was much conflicts within the organization. Anyway, she did her best to operate the organization harmoniously and accomplished many things. ''95 Beijing Women's Convention' was the last performance she organized under the name of "Women's Culture and Art Planning Organization". Even though too busy for her to sleep more than 2-3 hours a day, it was a worthy chance to remind all the people on the globe of Military Sexual Slavery by Japanese Soldiers issue.

'Democratic' Husband

When it comes to her wedding story, it may compare to a kind of war.

They met each other at an education program by a trade union first, and met again at the demonstration field, when she felt down on the street and her husband to be saved her. She didn't think him as a partner until he went in jail 'cause of 'fake employing'. She visited to see him often and started thinking about marriage.

However, she felt a kind of uneasiness in her mind. He was a movement activist who is not involved in earning money, didn't finished his university and had a weak constitution. She was poor until then but if she marry him, she had to be poorer than before.

April 9th 1989, the wedding was worse than ever. The guests came from the demonstration directly and they were covered with Molotov's cocktail. The wedding place was full of smell of it. She couldn't help crying all the while the wedding went on.

Married Life Like a Battlefield

Her married life got worse. They need to borrow money to rent a small room. Her husband was dismissed again and again, and drank almost everyday. He didn't make any money and they quarreled everyday. The roll of supporting family and paying off the debt was imposed to her inevitably.

In this situation, she couldn't think of a baby but she had to decide whether they have a baby or not. Then, she decided to have one around 3 years after marriage. This decision changed her husband gradually.

Her Son With Inborn Heart Disease.

November 19th 1991, she got a son like a jewel. They were so happy. However, around 2 months after his birth, she got to know that her son had an inborn heart disease. He was told that had to take an operation and to be very careful even after operation.

She felt desperate and couldn't believe it a reality. Her husband consoled her sincerely. Now, she devoted herself to looking after her son with giving up anything else. She did everything for her son and he took an operation leaving her a debt same as the amount of cost for operation. Her son, Nam-hyeong became 6 years old now and goes to pre-school.

Dreaming of a 'true actress'

As she took to set up an event named 'Orum' which celebrate 10 years' anniversary of Women's Labor Union, she recalled last ten years' life one by one. The play she acted in personally contains her own story in many parts. This gave more inspiration to herself and she and her husband often sat up at night talking about it before the performance.

▶Hea-Ran is playing a memory drama at the ten year's anniversary of Women's Labor union.

Now, the task given to her is how to develope 'Orum' as a constitution which could poster each individual member's seciality and to be combined with the women's movement. She wants to make it a dignified constitution not swayed by commercialism and deal with a kind of impressive story in an open form like a Korean traditional performance.

Other things she really wants from the bottom of her heart are for her son to grow up well and for her husband to be in good health. Then, for herself..... She wants to be an actress. She wants to be a 'true actress' who gives out her own nature freely enough in well-composed works, like a wild flower and like a flame.

Masan-Changwon Women Workers Association

Q: I am a career woman who works for the manufacturing company. I was 60 days off from work - from March 20th to May 19th - after childbirth and what the company told me was I can't use any more of my annual or monthly leave.

I thought that the days off because of before and after giving delivery was regarded as attendance at work. However. my company tells me that although it's paid vacation, it should be excluded from the days of annual or monthly leave. I want to know if this is right or wrong. Please tell me the condition of monthly leave after having used before and after childbirth leave.

A: Considering the before and after childbirth holiday as working is to prevent women from getting disadvantages from taking days off. Therefore, the days off for the childbirth should be included in the years of continuous service as well as serial step system and one shouldn't be placed at a disadvantageous position from it.

But in the case of annual or monthly leave, one is given these days off from work in order to get rid of stress accumulated in the unit of a year and a month. So, if one is to find out the annual or monthly leave days, she should exclude the childbirth vacation days and calculate.

For example, if others worked 300 days in a year then the woman who had days off during her childbirth should subtract her 60 days of vacation and if she perfectly attended the remain 240 days, she has 10 days of annual leave that is, in the case of workers who served for two years.

Speaking of monthly leave, if she worked all days before her leave on March 20, she can take a day off in March, no days off in April because she didn't go to work, and a day off in May if she went to work every day after her leave on the 19th.
Eventually, no days could be taken off in April if one didn't work that month.

In the case above, there could be some criticism on the way people translate the meaning of 'considering/regarding as having worked' but the principle and rule of Ministry of Labor these days translate as listed above.

Song Chul-Won
(The director of the committee for the absolute guarantee of continued employment rights of the Sam-Mi Special Steel labor union)

sung-min Ju (Chairperson, LG Industrial Electornic Co, labor union)

The LG industrial Electronic Co., one of the important companies belongs to the LG group, is an elevator producing company with its six factories, employing more than 10,000 workers.

In this large company whose management ideology is a just management and a respect for human being, there are frequent occurrances of sxual harassment. When we define sexual harassment, as "any unwantd leers, comments, suggestions, or physical contact of a sexual nature, as welll as unwelcome requests for sexual favors," sexual harassment is a practice that regards every women as sex objests, not as equal human beings.

Examples of sexual harassment occurring on the LG's work floor are as follows:

• When there is a telephone call for a women worker, a male worker yells at her, "XX you have big breasts," instead of telling her, "there is a call for you."

• When a woman worker who is trying hard to put a three-legged part into a box, a male section leader says, "hey, you have to turn off the lights to put it in easily. These women are so excited whenever they see three-legged things."

• When a new woman worker who is fresh off from high school was posted, the male section leader said to other male workers, pointing to the young woman, "That woman is main, just like my rice ready to eat, so no one should touch her." He also said to this woman, "You are supposed to wait me at XX hotel, after taking a bath carefully for me."

• To young women workers, the men say, "I don't like you who smell like babies, I like old ladies better"- They also say, "How about having a deep kiss, holding your waist, to a degree to pull out your front teeth," a terrible verbal abuse.

Besides using vulgar languages of sexual nature, the male workers molest women workers by spanking women workers' behinds: by touching women's back while they talk to women workers. Moreover, the men wake up women workers by holding and shaking their breast, if the women dose during their night work.

These offenders, who are usually section leaders, engage this kind of sexual violences over women workers. Since their wives and daughters might also be working somewhere, it would be just like offending their own wives and daughters.

Sexual harassment within the company is a serious problem by itself, but the gravity of the situation is hightened because the offenders engage in the same kind of conducts repeatedly, without showing any regrets. Moreover, the company that should properly deal with this kinds of conducts in order to prevent sexual harassment from occurring again, put pressures on the reference people of the victims, and call the parents of the victims who brought up her case into public.

The management, blaming the victims, questions their parents, "how would you have educated your daughter, so that she is so troublesome?" and so forth. In short, the company persistently has tried to patch up the cases, by appeasing the victims, by mobilizing their parents and their senior workers in the company.

Thus, the labor union requested to call a disciplinary committee to eradicate sexual harassment in the company. Four offenders were submitted to disciplinary punishments, ranging from a demotion to a lower grade to a forced resignation by the disciplinary committee. The committee, however, called another meeting right after and sharply lightened its punishments, ranging from a two month-suspension from office and to a demotion. The management is keen on appeasing, threatening and intimidating the victims.

Although one of the four offenders was notified that he is submitted to a disciplinary measure due to his obscene conduct, he is allowed to call women workers into his office under the excuse of a personal interview. This way, the management allowed him to continue his obscenity within the company, and he called a victim woman worker to his office and touched her thighs.

Since the company does not stop this practice of sexual harassments over women workers by not willing to penalize the offenders, the LG is very much deceiving the public throught its TV commercials everyday that the company is sustaining a just management and a respect for humanity.

Although the labor union demanded the company to resolve these cases properly, the company has dealt with the cases superficially without resolving. One of the victims, finally laid a formal complaint before the Chonnan city police.

The case was sent to the prosecutor's office. The presecutor's office, however, has tried hard to draw a mutual agreement from the offender and the victim, without punishing the offender and the company in order to prevent this kind of harassments from occurring again. Now, we wonder to whom we could turn for a help in order to resolve this case properly.

To have a safe and a non-threatening work environment for women, the union demands the company:

First, the respective factory manager must exhibit a public apology on a large bulletin board that can be read everyone in the company, regarding his grave faults in not resolving sexual harassment cases properly.

Second, the two section leaders (excluding the supervisor who was submitted to a forced resignation) is to be transferred from the section where women workers work.

Third, the company must prepare some measures immediately to root out sexual harassment in the future. Fourth, the company may not intimidate nor make a reprisal against the woman worker who laid a formal complaint. If the company engaged in this kind of conducts, the labor union would immediately take corresponding actions.

1. The characteristics of garment industry in Korea

   A garment industry has been regarded as its high profits through a fast manufacturing process, as a living necessity industry, and as high-class fashion products which is related with a high value-added item.

   The characteristics of this garment industry are: first, in terms of connecting and depending to other relevant industries, the garment industry produces a final process with a strong dependency from others. Second, the price of the products is very much depended on cloth, design and technics. Third, a nature of manufacturing process, technics and required work forces are decided according to producing items, their qualities and designs. Fourth, a garment industry is based on a low-wage and labor intensity, and at the same time, based on high technics. Fifth, it's always

   required a new thing, and very sensitive to a new fashion. Sixth, most of workers in garment industry are women. It's originated from the male-dominated society, when men cut a pattern, women do sawing and assisting in everything. Seventh, since it's a city-oriented industry, and required enough work force, it also needs to be close to big cities for big markets. Finally, anyone can start to open this work with a small capital and even with himself or herself alone.

2. The situation of workers in garment industry

   The industrial restructuring in garment industry, which includes a market control by monopolized enterprises, factor transferring to overseas and extreme sub -contracting, and a flexibility of work force, has given a great influence to all around the working conditions of workers in garment industry.

   Reduction of employment and increasing of instable employment have made working conditions worse in terms of working hours, wage and welfare system, and have weaken a workers movement based on a shopfloor in garment industry.

   1. Reduction of employment scale

      Since 1990s, when the industrial restrcturing had been deepen in society in 1980s, the number of companies has been reduced, and the number of workers have been cut down very significantly. A scale of companies got smaller and smaller, the average number of workers in each company was 41.1 in 1990, and it was changed to 32.2 in 1995, which was 21.7% reduction of employment for five years.

   2. Increasing of instable employment

      An extreme sub-contracting, getting poorer and smaller of business and increasing of unperpect employment types have caused a serious employment instability. Since there is no government restriction of factory transferring and factory lock-out, the factory transferring to overseas and mass-dismissal of workers have been regarded as a good point of national competition. It has been getting serious to workers in every part of working place and anytime.

   3. Long and irregular working hours

      In 1991, the working hours in garment industry marked the longest one in manufacturing industry. However, under the poor and instable employment situation, the worst working conditions have been concealed and continued till today.

   4. Slavery labor based on contract work

      The biggest problem related with wage is an expansion of contract work or even piece work. In order to get more wage, the workers who are on contract work tend to make long working hours. The nature of garment work is very irregular based on a new fashion or different season, so when there are a lot of works to do, the workers could not help accepting the long working hours.

   5. Poor welfare system

      According to a survey by Federation of Democratic Labor Union, 84.8% of replied workers told they didn't have any monthly leave. Also, 64.7% of replied workers told there were no annual leave at all. 96% of replied women workers told they couldn't use a special monthly leave during a menstruation period. Only one woman among the 35 replied women workers told she had a paid maternity leave. The workers in poor and small factory are not benefited by leagal paid leave systems, and a level of maternity protection related with a pregnancy and a delivery is very low.

   6. Worsening labor movement

      Reduction of workers' social space in garment industry reveals an absolute reduction of organizations and membership of the labor union.

      Cheonggye Garment workers' union used to have 2,000 membership at 101 factories in 1989, however, they have 70 membership at 4 factories at present. It's mainly because of factory scale reduction and frequent lock-out.

3. Policy proposal on the garment industry

   In order to block a big financial control and a production emptiness, the manufacturing system based on the low wage system should be out, and employment stability and high qualified work force should be in under the understanding of national economy.

   1. Restriction on the low wage based on manufacturing system

      (1) Restriction on the low wage intensity - overseas investment and on the international subcontracting strategy

      A finalcial support and tax-cut down on direct overseas investment have to be erased. In case of oppressioon of workers' rights or violation of the labor law in that country, the investment license has to be canceled. If the country do not keep the international labor regulation, it must be got economic sanction such as blocking imports and highly taxation.

      (2)Restriction on the unperpect employment like a house-subcontract

      A nation-wide survey on the poor, unregistered workers has to be done with expanding practice of the labor standard law for them. The house subcontractors have to be protected under the law.

      The application objects of industrial accidents insurance (at present, useful to the work place over 5 full-time workers) have to be expanded to all kinds of work places.
      The house subcontractors' law has to be established as soon as possible in order to guarantee their basic rights, same as the ILO regulations.

      Through a settlement of final price decision based on the the amount of works, the cooperative relationship has to be set rather than a ruling and subordinating relationship.

   2. Industrial policy of the mid-small company

      The rates of mid-small company among the manufacturing industry in Korea has been increased in terms of the number of companies, the number of workers, the total amount of production and the added value. However, the total amount of production and added value of the mid-small companies' are only 50% of the big companies'. Therefore, the mid-small compaies have to be conscious not to be subordinated in the big companies' profit structure.

      A special financial support on the poor and small companies has to be intensified in order to let them get an official regislation and to get a better working conditions.

      Finally, a financial support has to be given to the workers in mid-small companies for their employment stability. A settlement of retirement fund, education and training program fundraised by others and day care center have to be set under the financial support to ontribute the employment stability.

   3. Investment expansion on workers

      First, reproduction of the skilled workers through the employment stability is required. It can help to block various changes in employment type, and to make skilled workers active in reproduction.

      Second, intensifying a technical education and training is required. High qualified work force should be supplied in terms of work force stability. Third, the main focus has to be given to an expansion of day care center. Since garment industry is a women workers dominated, so it's very necessary to have reliable centers to guarantee women workers' reproduction.

4. The main tasks of the organizing movement in garment industry.
   1. Organizing workers

      In regard to organize workers in garment industry, we have to consider the following points.
      First, the main activists in garment industry have to be free from the general movement theory in the past. For example, the previous theory used be based on the male-dominated industry, heavy industry oriented and big company based. It's easy for us the garment workers' movement to put as a side-movement in general workers movement.

      Second, most of women workers in garment industry are married, for them to be in a subject leadership, the working environment also has to be considered. The women workers should be free from the double labor burden as a married women and workers.

      Third, we have to try hard to organize house subcontracing workers.

   2. Exploring various ways of movement

      'The Manufacturer Cooperative Association' movement which has been carried out by the garment workers is based on the principle of 'Common Investment, Common Manufacturing, Common Distribution and Cooperative Management'. It has been getting noticed as a new alternative workers movement.

      Since the workers in poor factory or house based factory are not easy to be organized, we have to explore the ways of movement for them.

   3. Strenthening solidarity with women movement

      The women workers movement, which is struggling to achieve workers' rights and revision of labor system, has to be united together with a general women movement with a common efforts and movement.

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Yoon, Keum-Soon, a Women Farmer in Heungsanri

Park, Min-na's life story
The Injured with No Place to Take a Rest in

Plans made by the Finance and Economy Board for the Efficient Practices of the Industrial Disaster Compensation Insurance Scheme

▶The Board argues following problems of the Current Insurance Scheme :

• The insurance is managed by the Labor Welfare Public Corporation and the Korea Industrial Security Public Corporation.
  
• Its standardized insurance rate system makes it difficult to guarantee effectiveness of the insurance, the long-term financial stability, and the prevention of job-related disasters and accidents in the workplaces.
  
• Without any competition among the companies, their services to the subscribers and the workers involved remain at the very low level.

1. Basic Direction

   The compulsory insurance policy should be maintained. Competition should be encouraged by allowing private insurance companies to deal with the industrial disaster compensation insurances, and it also followed by complementary measures to ease the problems brought about by the competition itself.

2. Proposals

   ① Reform of the system of the insurance policies : Each insurance policy should cover both the industrial disaster insurance and the excess insurance.

   • Compulsory insurance : compensations should be performed based on legal standards. And the rate of the charges should basically be determined according to the standards applied differently to each type of business, but decisions regarding the discount or extra charges are to be made by companies within their limited ranges.
   • Optional insurance : The compensations for injured workers who apply for the full compensation exceeding the legal standards, should also be covered, and the charges for it should be determined on a voluntary basis.

   ② Introduction of appropriate insurance charge

   ③ Employment of measures to prevent the private insurance companies from refusing to undertake sunset businesses or unstable, small-scale companies where the incidence of industrial disasters and accidents could be higher than in others.

   ④ Encouragement of private insurance companies to take positive activities for workers' welfare and prevention of industrial disasters. Privatization of four hospitals among the six specializing in industrial-disaster- related problems, where those patients account for under 30 % of the total patients of each hospital.

   ⑤ Employment of measures to minimize the number of non-subscribers : The Labour Welfare Public Corporation should take the responsibilities for supervising nonsubscriber companies and for compensating on their behalf. Private insurance companies earned profits in proportion to the total revenue of each company.

▶ Needed Measures

• Decisions regarding insurance charges, extra charges, and discounts should be permitted by the Finance and Economy Board.
• Private insurance companies should be allowed to assess their losses.

Potential Problems of the Privatization of the Industrial Disaster Insurance Scheme

1. Compensations for industrial disaster would become hard to get because of the increasing disputes in recognizing an accident as 'industrial' or 'occupational'.

   The disputes and lawsuits raised by workers involved in industrial disasters have been increasing even under the current system where the Labour Welfare Public Corporation is in charge. So, it is projected that, if the whole insurance business is privatized, conflicts between private companies and workers would be much more rapidly increasing, and that workers would spend much more time, with much less success, to get the compensation than before.

2. The quality of the insurance service as a part of social welfare program would deteriorate.

   Since the private insurance companies search for as much interest as possible, it is unlikely that companies provide the workers involved with quality services for medical treatment, financial compensation, and rehabilitation enough to return to work.

3. Medium-scale or small-scale companies where the incidence of industrial disaster is higher than in big companies would suffer too much from the increased insurance charges they have to pay.

   Since the rate of the insurance charges are determined by the incidence rate, and also since this charging system would be precipitated into the privatization, it is expected that medium-scale and small-scale enterprises would tend to either avoid subscribing to the insurance policies or fire workers who are more vulnerable to disasters in the workplaces, all of which do not to help reduce the industrial disasters at all.

4. Workers in small-scale businesses, especially in businesses which employ less than five workers, would have little possibility to get compensation.

5. The medical treatment services for patients would not be fully provided.

   Specialists agree on the gruesome possibility that, when the insurance business are privatized, the services for patients, such as Pneumoconiosis patients who need long-term medical treatment, would be dealt with for shorter periods of treatment covered by the insurance than they are supposed to be.

   Especially, mining companies where the incidence of the job-related disasters is very high would be refused subscribing to insurance policies, which would also lead to increasing legal disputes.

Hyun-Mi Park

Kim, Tae-Im
(union leader of the Anam Industry)