〔Interview〕"Decreased gender wage gap will also benefit the men workers", said the organizer of a rally 'Stop at 3 o'clock!'. (Mar. 8, 2017 / The Hiffington Post Korea)
HOT ISSUES & NOTICE 2017. 11. 8. 11:26On International Women's Day, Mar. 8th, we listened to the story from the organizer of 'Stop at 3 o'clock!', the first rally in South Korea which urged workers to leave work early to protest against the gender wage gap. Below is an interview with Ms. Younok Lim (standing representative of Korean Women Workers Association) who organized this rally.
- Please tell us the background of the rally.
"In South Korea, it is taken for granted that women workers get paid less than men. It is a problem itself that this serious situation is not taken as a 'problem'. We, Korean Women Workers Association organized this rally as the best way to get people's attention to the gender wage gap, which we think is a clear index of gender inequality in South Korea."
- Could you tell us more about people in today's rally?
"Today, we met many members from Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and Korean Women's Trade Union, including cleaning workers and nonregular school workers. To attend this rally, they took today off or used their allocated time for education as a union member. We also met many supporters from non-governmental organizations including women's organizations. We understand, in reality, it is not easy to leave work early no matter how much s/he supports our position. So, we asked our supporters to stand by us in the other ways, such as to stop working just for a moment at 3 PM or to take a photo of a note saying '#Stop at 3 o'clock!' if they could not leave the office for our rally."
- We have already seen similar rallies taking place in the other countries, such as Iceland, France, and UK. It was nice to watch today's rally, but it seemed somewhat late to have this rally today in South Korea, notorious for its biggest gender wage gap among the OECD nations. How did you feel about today's rally?
"I was really moved today. Despite our huge gender wage gap, it was not easy to be cleary aware of this problem in our society. People say, 'things are also tough for men', or 'these days women got more power than men.' But in reality, regardless of their age, South Korean women workers are under various types of sexual discrimination at the workplace, such as wage discrimination and sexual harassment. So far, there have been only a few supporting us in this issue, but today, here at the heart of Seoul, we freely expressed our anger and concern about this problem of the women workers. It moved me a lot, as I felt my 30 years of participation in the NGO movement for the women workers had helped to make some progress in society.〔tears〕"
- The gender wage gap of South Korea (37%), the worst among the OECD nations, is much bigger than the second biggest gap of Japan and Estonia (26%). What do you think made the gender wage gap in South Korea so 'uniquely left behind'?
"I think it was mainly the patriarchal culture and system in South Korea. Korean women are burdened with care work for their family members, but hardly given any help from the government. It helps lower the quality of women's jobs in South Korea, as parttime jobs are almost the only option for these women, who have to juggle alone work and family responsibilities."
- You mentioned the decreased gender wage gap would also benefit the men workers.
"This is not a zerosum game. Those who have benefited from the women workers' low income are not the men workers, but the employers. Right after the IMF crisis in South Korea, it was mainly the women workers whose working status was changed into the temporary position. Before long, the percentage of temporary employees among the men workers was also increased. This means, today's large proportion of temporary workers among the women workers is not just 'the problem of the women', but 'the problem of the entire labor market' in South Korea. When something made the women workers unhappy, it would not benefit the men workers, but harm every worker regardless of his/her gender. So, today I am asking the men workers to stand by us against the women's low income. South Korea's huge gender wage gap should not be just taken for granted, but should be overcome, so that we can make a more fundamental change in the working conditions in South Korea. If we better the most vulnerable jobs' working conditions, it will help to improve the overall labor environment in South Korean society."
* Counterstatements to the most frequent criticisms on the issue of the gender wage gap
1. 'Women workers are more likely to avoid the extra work at night or over the weekend. So, it is no wonder many companies favor men as their employees.'
Ms. Younok Lim (standing representative of Korean Women Workers Association): I just want to ask. Who is cooking your breakfast and dinner? Who is taking care of your children and their school work? Who is looking after your sick parents? It is usually women who take all these family responsibilities. But are they really jobs only for women? Before criticizing women workers, we should first share their care work at home.
2. '37% of gender wage gap in South Korea is fair as the women workers work 37% less than the men workers in average.'
Ms. Younok Lim (standing representative of Korean Women Workers Association): Today's rally 'Stop at 3 o'clock!' was to get people's attention to the problem that women workers are paid 37% less than the men workers in average. This is as if women workers are working without pay for three hours everyday, from 3 to 6 PM. However, for the Korean women workers, this is not the only unpaid work time. After 6 PM, childcare and/or housework, their another type of unpaid work, is waiting for them at home. By the way, what's the use of arguing with the men over whose hard work should be more appreciated? It is the government and the companies which should be blamed first for the huge gender wage gap and unfavorable conditions for the workfamily balance.
3. 'Bringing up the women's problems can make the gender relations more divisive.'
Ms. Younok Lim (standing representative of Korean Women Workers Association): We are not making the gender relations divisive. We just want to abolish sexual discrimination and hatred rampant in South Korean society. Regardless of their gender, all workers have rights to leave work at the regular time. During the time of pregnancy and childrearing, both men and women workers have equal rights to shorten their working hours. Today's three days of paid paternity leave should be extended to one month, and men workers should be given equal rights and responsibilities to take leave to care for their young children.