Labor Groups Threaten to Call Strike Over Bill on Non-Regular Workers

By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Ku Kwon-so, a cooling and heating equipment repairman, worked at Daewoo building in central Seoul as a part-time worker.

``I worked about 72 hours a week in two or three shifts, earning a relatively low annual payment of 17 million won ($14,700). I could not even dream of taking a holiday. Such working conditions are applied to other workers who do similar works with a job status similar to mine,’’ he told The Korea Times.

The issue of non-regular workers and discrimination against them in terms of wages and working conditions has long been a controversy, and the government revealed a bill aiming to protect their rights on Sep. 10.

However, non-regular workers, who the government claims are beneficiary of the new law, are strongly opposing the revision, saying it would further aggravate their discriminatory situation. Fifteen representatives of non-regular workers are staging a sit-in in protest against the bill in the headquarters of the ruling Uri Party since Sep. 16, and Ku is one of them.

The 44-year-old was recently fired for his activities in a non-regular workers’ union.

According to the National Statistical Office, the number of part-timers and day laborers stood at 7.13 million at the end of last year, accounting for 49.3 percent of total workers in South Korea.

Non-regular workers have an unstable job status and their average salary is only 61 percent of that of full-time employees.

``Workers such as cleaners, repairmen and guards, who are usually hired with non-regular status, earn an average 15-18 million won a year. But in rare cases, employees with a full-time status make more than double the amount,” Ku said.

The government has proposed the bill with a goal of ironing out discrimination against part-timers and to keep labor flexibility for management at the same time.

Labor officials said the new bill is designed to prevent unreasonable discrimination against those workers in terms of salary and other treatment.

They said companies found to be discriminating against non-regular employees will also be subject to a maximum 100 million won in fines starting 2006 according to the bill. Workers suffering from discrimination will be able to file complaints with the labor commission office.

The bill will also allow many more businesses in a variety of industries to hire short-term workers so that they can easily dismiss employees, while the current law permits only 26 types of industries to hire them.

However, the bill has drawn a backlash from laborers.

The nation’s two umbrella unions, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) said in a joint statement that the measure will give a legal way to employers to permanently fix the status of laborers as temporary, expecting that more firms will employ part-timers instead of full-timers.

The two unions also said they will cooperate in fighting against legislation of the bill, while the KCTU plans to stage a massive demonstration in November if the government presents it to the National Assembly.

``The government measure is wrong. It should know that companies use non-regular workers in positions which actually should be filled with regular workers,’’ Ku said.

He said he acknowledges the need of using part-timers or contract workers for short-term projects. The problem is, however, firms hire non-regulars for positions which need to be filled with regular workers to lower labor costs, he said.

In addition, in many cases, companies fire workers who demand better wages and treatment or form a labor union in the name of ``the termination of contract.’’ ``Management is not assuming the responsibility which it has to do as employers,’’ Ku said.

Regarding the role of labor commission offices, Ku and labor unions are skeptical of its effectiveness.

``The offices even now don’t detect companies’ illegal hiring of short-term workers. Moreover, to report a firm’s discrimination against part-timers to the offices, an individual worker needs to be greatly courageous and ready to face dismissal or the firm’s suppression.’’ Ku said.

So far, in suits filed by short-term workers against employers’ discrimination and maltreatment, only 20 percent of the cases have been ruled in workers’ favor, Ku added.

``We see the new bill aims at nothing but increasing part-time workers and make it harder for them to get regular status. The government should reconsider it from the beginning,’’ Ku stressed.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr