On the past November 18, the KWWA invited Dr. Christine Bergmann, former Minister of Women of Germany and held a debate forum with her on the theme of Neo-liberalism and women’s policies, focusing on measures on women irregular workers between Korea and Germany. The forum was begun with the keynote presentation by Dr. Christine Bergmann who visited Korea to share German experiences and to grasp situations of Korean women workers. She started her address saying “I am surprised that many young women join this meeting together.” Dr. Bergmann from the former East Germany was a former Minister of Family, Elderly, Women and Youth when a progressive government under Prime Minister Schroeder came into power in Germany, and currently has been working as a director of The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

Dr. Bergmann said “Germany and Korea did not reach the state of ‘paradise’ in relation to women’s work.” She described as ‘paradise,’ an ideal state in which women and men both can work and live happily. It is women who make up most irregular workers in Korea and take ‘insecure jobs’ in Germany, both. In the case of Germany, women had a hard time due to their low wages and long working hours like us in Korea. In the former East Germany, women’s employment rate reached up to 90% before the unification, which shows women’s active role as major income earners.

After the unification with West Germany in which males are considered as major bread winners, there has been no change in the male employment rate, but there have been a lot of differences in women’s cases: That was due to the job distribution between women not the job distribution between men and women.

Dispatched jobs, involuntary part-time jobs and mini jobs are classified into insecure jobs in Germany, and amongst them, German women largely concentrate on mini jobs. Mini jobs are mostly provided in the service sector, and workers engaged in mini jobs cannot be covered by social insurance. In addition, they are very low paying jobs whose wages cannot account for two thirds of the average wages in Germany. Dr. Bergmann underlined realistic wages to help to maintain the livelihood of low-wage workers rather than the government’s subsidiaries.

Dr. Bergmann told us that Germany is one of the countries that do not enact the minimum wage system. However, according to a German research one out of 5 women workers is able to demand her or his wage increase if 7.50 Euro is decided as the German minimum wage. In case of the U.K. after the introduction of the legal minimum wage system, she pointed out the decreases by between 16.1% and 10.8%, in relation to wage gaps between men and women who were full-time workers from 1997 to 2006.

l     “The nation is responsible for childcare and the provision of education facilities.”

In the case of the former East Germany, high employment rates of men and women, both were due to social atmospheres, and further because of state’ supports for childcare, running work-site childcare centers across the nation.

Since women in West Germany were not seen as major householders, and moreover there is a great shortage of social supports for women’s economic activities and social recognition, it was very difficult for West German women to balance women’s jobs and family work, which was shown by an idiom, ‘the crow mom’. After the unification, Germany is presently struggling with a low birth rate of 1.4%, even though it is higher than that in Korea. Dr. Bergmann emphasized the need for stabilizing women’s jobs in order to increase birth rates.

Why German women have to take low-paying part-time work including mini jobs is in the shortage of general childcare facilities. In Germany, due to women’s stoppage of working careers caused by childbirth and childcare, women have to re-enter to low paying jobs. She stressed that the entire social system should be provided to raise children.

l     Suggestions to construct the ‘paradise’ where women can work securely:

After Dr. Bergmann gave a speech about general conditions of women’s employment in the former East Germany and in Germany after the unification, she made suggestions to stabilize women’s jobs as follows: ▲ the social recognition of women’s jobs should be enhanced: values of traditional care work should be re-appreciated and proper wage lines should be set; ▲ involuntary part-time work should be decreased; ▲ childcare facilities should be increased; and ▲ additional social protection should be prepared in the sectors in which social insurances are not covered. 

After the keynote presentation, Dr. Eun Soomi, a penal, working for the Korea Labor Institute made a presentation on the women’s labor market in Korea, as follows: ▲ Korean women experience their stoppage in their working careers at their ages of 30 ~ 34, and re-enter to the labor market offering poor jobs; ▲ gender occupational segregation; ▲ the increases in the number of poor jobs such as irregular jobs; ▲ women’s low employment rate of just around 50%; and ▲ increasing gaps in terms of wage, job welfare, and social insurances. These issues have been worsening for the past 10 years.  Dr. Eun suggested the changes in the government’s policy stances for women, expansion of social security nets, reinforcement of public childcare and education systems, and pro-active activities of women’s circles. 

Jo-Lee Yeo-ul of ilda, a womenist journal approached women’s economic difficulties from the perspectives of housing and education as well as labor issues. She pointed out “people tend to see labor and prostitution separately. Teenagers who run away from their homes are likely engaged to sex industries because they had difficulties in achieving economic independence and housing.  She also criticized the current Korean state in which parents usually have to carry the burden of high private education expenses for their children due the overheated private education, regardless of their income levels.

The last penal, Dr. Hong Mihee (head of Women’s Policy Center belonging to Incheon Development Institute) pointed out no relationship between educational levels  and women’s participation rate in economic activities in Korea, while the higher educational levels, the higher participation rate in economic activities in Germany. She concluded that Korean women with high educational levels evaded from the labor market after their marriage, and it is difficult for them to re-enter the labor market because of the shortage of the number of jobs available in social service sectors even though they want to. 

We at the KWWA provided leadership enhancement training for middle-ranking activists entitled ‘Emptying and recharging for tomorrow’ for 3 days between October 29 and 31, 2009 at the Jirisan Mountain.

Approximately 20 full-time activists who have been working over 2 years had a good chance to reckon on our structure and take a rest for better tomorrow on the title of good rest and introspection.

Above all, we had good talks about life, peace and living in the community with Monk Dobup from the Silsangsa Temple.  There is its thread of connections with our vision, ‘equality, peace~’, helping us to think over and find solutions.

As the second program, we practiced partner yoga and meditation. We presumed that we might have to stretch a lot, but this partner yoga was to practice one by one with our partners, learning to rely on and care partners.  It was a good time for us to relax ourselves who had been tired from our daily tasks.

On the second day, we had a time to take a walk around the village.  Olle trail routes on Jeju Island already became very famous, but Dulle trail routes in the Jirisan Mountain began to be known by word of mouth.  Even if it was a trail around, because all trails in the Mt. Jirisan are tough, participants complained that it was hard like climbing a mountain. However, when people went over the Deunggu-jae Hill, participants were so fascinated at a beautiful village surrounded by terraced fields.  The landscape was so beautiful and charming that we forgot all our troubles: there were uninhabited taverns; old people were so kind that they gave us soft persimmons free; and grasshoppers hopped and flew in the field. We won’t forget all the beauties.

In the evening on the second day and in the morning on the third day, both, Jeong Moon Ja, chairperson of the KWWA, conducted a workshop entitled ‘Checking myself and our organization for searching for hopes’. In this session, we had a time to think about various visions of ourselves and our organizations, including myself that I identify as my image; myself that my coworkers consider as my image; my organization that I consider; agonies and worries and concerns that only full-time activists work over 2 years for the KWWA have.

Escaping from our daily routines and putting down our loads as middle-ranking activists, we were able to have a valuable time to look back ourselves and have good communications with others in the arm of Mother Nature for 3 days.

On October 22, 2009, women’s and environmental groups including KWWA, KWAU, Women Corea, and Korea Federation for Environmental Movement held a press conference to demand the government to “enact rice aid for North Korea in order to tackle the decreasing rice price,” in front of the Ministry of Unification.

Women farmers shaved their heads to demand the government to guarantee the price of rice and also went on a sit-in strike in front of the National Assembly. A woman farmer pleaded for supports to Korean farmers, saying “Many people ignored us when we tried to distribute our leaflets.  People think it is only Korean farmers’ matter, but at last it will be all ours.”

Women’s organizations and environmental groups demanded the government to ensure constant rice farming to Korean farmers, since rice related issues are matters on our sovereignty and all of our matters. They pointed out the needs to resume rice aids to North Korea and further, the prompt enactment of the aids.

On past October 17, we gathered for ‘National women’s day of action for decreasing the budget for 4 major river restoration and increasing livelihood-and-welfare related budgets’ in Seoul.

We, full-time workers and members from women’s organizations in the Seoul Metropolitan area got together and publicized our demands on decreasing the budget on 4 major river restoration and increasing budgets on public livelihoods and welfares, dressed up cutely with various tools including hand pickets.

We started the rally, tapping djembe, African drums and shouting ‘Stop deducing taxes of the rich’ and ‘Stop the 4 major river restoration project.’  Although our tapping was not so excellent, our rhythmic sounds from the djembe made us joyous.

The opening speech made by Jeong Moon-Ja, chairperson of KWWA was followed by the comments entitled “Women have talks about budgets for 2010.” A reserve teacher who is employed as a temporary teacher denounced governmental policies and budget on women’s jobs: she complained about poor working conditions of temporary administrative workers working at schools because schools do not give proper tasks and positions to them; and she also revealed the sad reality that the government has continued to employ only temporary (4 month-fixed) teachers instead of regular teachers although the number of regular teachers is in great shortage. In addition, a university student let us know her agonies caused by her high university tuition fees and unemployment rates among the young. President of the Pucheon branch of the NCHM also insisted on the application of 4 social insurances so as to provide job security for care workers.

Members from the Ansan Women Workers Association expressed our demands through ‘Superman’, a Korean pop song with changed words and dances, which cheered us up a lot. Although the words were somewhat radical, participants liked the song so much because the words reflect our hard reality very well.

After that, a vice president of 참교육학부모회 talked about the governmental budget on education: she criticized the government for the reduction of necessary budgets on education including educational welfare, while it made great investment in English immersion education programs.

Lastly, Lee Kang-sil, standing chairperson of the Women Corea who made the last address about the current situations was furious because people have to pay the state debt, likely to surge up to 407 trillion won; she also deplored the Korean reality in which the Korean government collects taxes from the pocket of people while it reduced the taxes for rich people, although governments in other countries impose higher taxes on the rich, if tax revenues are not enough.

“Shift the budget on 4 major river restoration to those on women’s jobs, education and livelihood!!!”: we from women’s organizations and environmental groups finalized the rally with a performance to withdraw the governmental policies of 4 major river restoration and tax reduction for rich people and to allocate the budget for women’s jobs, education and public livelihood.

This rally, sponsored by the Women’s Action for Decent Lives and Jobs (WADLJ) composed of 39 women’s organizations, was begun from October 17, 2009, and lasted to November 15 for a month across the nation.

On October 13, 2009, a forum entitled ‘Increasing care jobs, but hidden sexual harassment’ was hosted. There are increasing social demands on care jobs, and also women are concentrated in this sector.  The KWWA did research on sexual harassment against care workers as a mean of encouraging care workers to obtain their rights to work. We at the KWWA shared pains and difficulties of sexual harassment victims in practice and urged the government to prepare for sexual harassment prevention polices and legal solutions through the forum.

The presentation on sexual harassment against care workers was followed by discussion by a researcher, women workers in the workplaces, and officers from the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, and after that, very active and dynamic discussions were carried out amongst the audience.  A variety of good ideas came out to share tough situations of care workers and to prevent and regulate practical measures on sexual harassment. The forum was assessed as a good chance to share seriousness of sexual harassment against care workers and to discuss active solutions by many local care work-related groups.

<Content Summary>

A survey was conducted to grasp the issues related to sexual harassment against care workers.  34.8% of respondents answered that they had had sexual harassment. The fact shows care workers are not safe from sexual harassment. Since one care worker is hired by 4~5 clients a month on average, it was found that 41% had had sexual harassment by more than two offenders; and up to 73.9% had experienced more than once. Since clients (users) are usually the same people, having regular and constant relationship, sexual harassment issues against care workers are very serious and crucial.  Sexual harassment issues should be tackled urgently.

The research showed that 37.8% requested help to their staffing agencies; 32.3% endured the terrible situations; and 21.3% complained to their clients.  The high rate of support requests to their staffing agencies means that the agencies should take active action to tackle sexual harassment against care workers. As the major reasons why care workers endure, 44.7% answered ‘they could do so, because my clients were sick’; and 24.9% ‘I consider this as common because I have often had during my care work.’ The respondents replied that they had to endure because of the characteristics of care work, which shows that care workers view sexual harassment as a feature of in-home care work.

54.5% identified ‘clients did not take it seriously’ as the reason why sexual harassment has not been tackled even though they took action, which shows that sexual harassment issues cannot easily be tackled because clients do not consider this matter as sexual harassment. As countermeasures, 24.5% answered ‘care workers should receive regular sexual harassment prevention education’; 23.5% ‘codes of conduct should be formulated and so clients should receive education on that’; and 21.3% ‘the care service related administration should take action to prevent sexual harassment.’ We can see the demand on the provision of sexual harassment prevention education for clients as well as the need for the provision of sexual harassment prevention education targeting care workers. Additionally, the authority concerned (the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs) should put efforts to tackle sexual harassment against care workers as the government’s feasible countermeasures are demanded strongly due to the characteristics of care workers’ workplaces.

As seen from survey results, we looked at characteristics of in-home care services, detailed sexual harassment that care workers go through, and their responses to sexual harassment through analyzing in-depth interviews, in order to know the reasons why the issues are not visible but the number of victims has been increasing although sexual harassment against care workers is very serious. ‘Homes’ as private spaces where in-home care services are given are comfortable to clients, and workplaces to care workers, and so they can be not only spaces of intimacy but also closed places.  Due to these features, in their houses service users (clients) can expose their sexual desires easily to care workers, because their faults can be concealed although they sexually harass care workers. Hence, the ‘house’ is the place where sexual harassment against care workers is immanent. Experienced care workers with long work experiences see their ability to endure sexual harassment wisely as their know-how.  Due to the hidden characteristics of in-home services like this care workers do not take sexual harassment seriously. Hence, this issue is not socially addressed.

Care workers have various kinds of sexual harassment such as verbal, physical and visual ones, as we usually know. Largely male clients talked a lot about sex related matters to care workers. These kinds of talks are parts of the exposure of their sexual desires made to care workers. Their verbal sexual harassment related to sex is normally extended to physical and visual sexual harassment. There are certain patterns of sexual harassment against care workers: care workers are targeted not only for sexual harassment and romantic relationship but also for ‘introduction of women’ to them.

Care workers take sexual harassment against themselves as individual matters, viewing the matters as their faults.  They confessed they had endured sexual harassment by their clients, saying “I don’t usually take small matters seriously.” Otherwise, they cannot continue their job. Care workers usually accept their patience as their know-how and usually put spells on themselves, believing offenders as their ‘patients,’ in order to endure sexual harassment. As seen the above, individual women workers take this as a personal matter, endure a lot and suffer from the pain a lot.

When care workers view sexual harassment too serious, they request their employment agencies to give a help to them. Since the agencies are the closest to care workers in the workplace, sexual harassment issues are revealed or hidden depending on the attitudes, awareness levels, and responses of the agencies. Even though the agencies take active action to sexual harassment, it is not feasible in practice if clients ‘stop receiving care service’. That’s because clients committing sexual harassment move to use others, and so sexual harassment issues are not tackled and further second and third victims are produced. Accordingly, the authority concerned which plans and manages the care sector should recognize this issue seriously and take countermeasures to address sexual harassment.

Care workers who had in-depth interviews are commonly affectionate toward their jobs. Actually, care work is very precious to them, because it is one of a few jobs which can be offered to middle-aged women. If sexual harassment against care workers is not tackled, amongst care workers there is high negative recognition of care work, which will not be developed into a decent job or guarantee high quality of service, either. Only when care work is reborn as a decent job, high quality of service for clients is ensured.

<Policy suggestions>

-Sexual harassment prevention act is needed to change bad service users into feasible and decent clients; 

-Sexual harassment prevention education should be given not only to victims but also clients;

-Care services subjects including the authority concerned should be aware of sexual harassment issues and try to make solutions.  

Skyrocketing commodity prices and decreasing welfare budgets make us sad!!

On September 30, 2009, right around the corner of the Choosuk holiday, Women’s Action for Decent Lives and Jobs (WADLJ) held 'a women's press conference to demand to increase welfare budget for 2010' in front of the Seoul KTX Station.

In spite of the difficult situation in which commodity prices have been rising rapidly and people's daily lives have become harder, a national holiday, Choosuk is around the corner in this year.  Recently, the press has reported that Korea is one of the leading groups that overcome the economic crisis and that we have to seek for exits to leap forward.

However, lives of socially vulnerable groups such as unemployed people due to this economic crisis and self-employed people who had to shut down their businesses early this year, are getting harder and harder, and further, social polarization has been getting serious.  The fresh breezes of overcoming this economic crisis have not been blown to common people.

Although there has no increases in net income for people, commodity prices have continued to skyrocket.  According to the 'consumers' commodity trends' researched in the past July, the prices of daily necessities have been rising including 5.7% in agricultural and livestock products, 6.9% in non-alcoholic beverage, and 5.7% in clothes and footwear compared to those in the same month of the previous year. Moreover, prices of city gas, one of public prices, rose by 9.3% from a year earlier.

Even if people sigh for high prices amidst the Choosuk holiday, on the past September 28, the government announced that welfare budget would rise only by 0.7% for 2010, which is directly related to people's lives. The Lee Myung Bak regime was supposed to increase welfare budget largely for people whose lives are getting harder due to the economic crisis, but it set the similar budget amount for the maintenance of the status quo since its loose policies such as its policies to reduce the taxes for rich people, the 4 major river  restoration project, and SOC. This shows that the policy stance of this regime is actually for businesses and the rich, even though it claims to support common people outwardly.

Accordingly, we at the WADLJ are at the forefront of calling for our demands to the government. Today, we are organizing a press conference and waging a campaign to be with people.

<Our demands>

1. Increase the budget for creating women's jobs for 2010!

- Increase the budget for creating women's jobs in the fields of child-care, education and social service!

- Create 20,000 jobs through the expansion of the facilities related child care and after-school education!

- Create 40,000 jobs through the expansion of national and public child-care facilities!  

- Create 50,000 jobs through the expansion and increase in child-care services for vulnerable classes! 

- Create 27,000 jobs through the expansion of long-term recuperation projects for the elderly!

- Create 20,000 jobs through the expansion of care services for parturient women and new born babies!

- Create 40,000 jobs for health and medical treatment related labor force such as home care workers and care assistants! 

2.  Expand the budget for supporting public education for 2010!

- Remit admission fees and tuition fees for high school students (budget: about 182.04 billion Won)!

- Remove parents' shares in education fees (budget: about 292.43 billion Won)! 

- Apply differential college tuition fees (budget: 340 billion Won)!

Don’t be discouraged because you have struggled for one year.  We have struggled for 25 years.

On September 24, 2009, it became a year after 88CC golf caddies started their strike. In front of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affair, golf caddies got together, showing “We want to work,” and women and/or labor activists joined them. The press conference and the struggle resolution rally, organized by Women’s Action for Decent Lives and Jobs (WADLJ) on that day, were to withdraw unfair dismissals of the golf caddies and to demand on their prompt reinstatement.

88 Country Club (88CC), a company entrusted by the Ministry has continued its unfair labor practices suppressing legal golf caddies’ trade union since past June, 2008. In September, 2008, the company dismissed a union member and decided the unlimited job suspensions of 53 unionists. Moreover, the company has dismissed 58 women workers including 3 union executives and decided the unlimited job suspensions of two union members even in 2009. During the past fall, winter, spring, summer, and this fall again, the golf caddies have continued their struggles for their rights to survive so far at the 88CC, in front of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affair, in streets, in the court, and at the labor offices. However, the company and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affair still turn their deaf ears to the women workers.

Park Sun-hee, vice president of 70s' Democratic Workers' Association who gave an incentive speech, stressed “it is from the labor that is the strongest power to change the world,” and cried in a voice of thunder, “an advanced nation does not make a big flower garden at the Kwangwhamoon Gate nor people in the country can just buy snacks. It is a real advanced country whose government respect working people, and protect their rights to survive.” In addition, she also comforted sorrowful and difficult 88CC golf caddies, saying “Don’t be discouraged because you have struggled for one year. We have struggled for 25 years.”  She was dismissed from Wonpoong Woolen Textile in the 1970s, but she was judged to be reinstated in 2003.

Kim Eun-sook, branch union president who is on unlimited hunger strike for 11 days stated “We can’t find minimum common sense that we had believed at any place,” and showed her strong will, saying “We will try to find our way by our own hands if there is no way.”  After the rally, chairpersons of women’s organizations headed for the Ministry to hand in their written opinions. After wrestling with policemen and officials of the Ministry, the rally was ended in showing the opinions to but the secretary-general not the Minister.  The Minister had refused the interviews with women’s organizations twice in the first half of this year.

To overcome pains in the era, and overcome the tragedy of the history

On past September 21, 2009, the KWWA and Martyr Kim Kyeongsook Commemoration Society in cooperation prepared for the 30^th special memorial events for commemorating the Martyr Kim Kyeongsook.  The events included a symposium, screening a film in commemoration, simple refreshment to share food of the 1970s, and memorial service, in the order named.

Kang In-soon, a professor in the Sociology department of the Kyeongnam University had a key presentation entitled women workers of the 1970s and the Korean democratic labor movement.  She made a presentation about the necessity for re-assessing the labor movement in the 1970s led by women workers working in the light industry, insisting “today irregular employment is very widely spread, and women workers are the majority of irregular workers in Korea. To take this into consideration, women workers should be the main pillar of the democratic labor movement.”

After the presentation, women workers who had or have experienced the labor movement in the workplace shared their experiences with others by era.  In particular, Kim Eun-sook, 88CC labor union president made a speech on behalf of women workers in the 2000s. Because she was under hunger strike (8 days so far), she drew a lot of attention.  Although the labor committee recognized that golf caddies of the 88CC were workers, dismissed workers have not been reinstated yet, and further because the management is reluctant to have sincere talks with workers, workers from the 88CC would have become dismissed for one year.

In the second section, a documentary film entitled ‘YH, Martyr Kim Kyeongsook, and us’ was screened jointly produced by the KWWA, Martyr Kim Kyeongsook Commemoration Society, and Korea Democracy Foundation. The film was started with the scene in which Kim Kyeongsook, a YH woman worker 30 years ago overlapped with the story of KTX crew workers’ branch union president 30 years after the YH incident. YH unionists depicted Martyr Kim Kyeongsook and YH union activities so vividly that it was deeply moved. The film will be a great source to know the YH union movement and Martyr Kim Kyeongsook.

Lastly, the memorial events were started with greeting by Choi Soon-young, a member of supreme council of the Democratic Labor Party, and an incentive speech by Ham Seh-ung, chairperson of Korea Democracy Foundation. During her speech, Choi Soon-young shed tears since a thousand thoughts crowded on her mind when she recalled past difficult memories and looked at the 88 CC trade union president who is still on the hunger strike 30 years even after the YH incident. Especially, a younger brother of the deceased Martyr Kim Kyeongsook took a part in the memorial events and shared his impressions with YH union members together.  In the memorial ceremony, Kang Ki-gap, a chairperson of the Democratic Labor Party, Kwon Young-gil, a national assembly member belonging to the Democratic Labor Party, Yoon Nan-sil vice chairperson of the Newjinbo, a political party, Lee Kang-sil, chairperson of Women Corea, Nam-Yoon Insoon, Korean Women Associations United and other activists joined.

We at the KWWA would like to express our many thanks to those who participated in the memorial events for Martyr Kim Kyeongsook.