Korean women fight for equality

On March 1, 2006, approximately four hundred women who work as train
attendants on the KTX “bullet train” began a strike against casual working
conditions.

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) officials led KTX women workers to
believe that although they were initially hired under short-term contracts
via an external company, they would be granted permanent status as direct
employees of KORAIL after one year. However, the KTX Crew Workers Branch
Union’s demands for direct and permanent employment have yet to be met.

To date, the KTX Crew Workers’ Branch Union’s struggle is the longest and
most bitterly waged fight by women workers in the history of Korea. For
over 500 days, women who work as train attendants on the KTX bullet trains
have held public rallies and marches, occupied buildings, lectured in
classrooms, and conducted outreach on the streets and at train stations
throughout the country. KORAIL’s continued refusal to meet the union’s
demands for gender equality, safe working conditions and secure employment
have led union leaders to engage in desperate measures to expose the
unjust and unequal conditions under which they are forced to work. After
exhausting every tactic, 31 union members began a hunger strike on July 2,
2007. As the hunger strike surpasses its 14th day, many union members have
been rushed to the hospital.

Despite KTX’s sleek and high-tech image as the fifth fastest “bullet
train” in the world, it is the site of blatant sexism and labor abuse. Of
those train attendants who are irregularly employed under outsourcing
agreements, the majority are women. In contrast, their male counterparts
who perform comparable duties are directly employed by KORAIL as “team
leaders.” Simply by being women, KTX train attendants are subject to lower
wages, harsher working conditions, and heightened job insecurity. In
addition, women workers face the perpetual threat of dismissal if they
speak out against unfair conditions and sexual harassment in the
workplace.

According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, KORAIL’s
treatment of KTX female train attendants is a clear example of gender
discrimination and a basic violation of human rights. The National Human
Rights Commission has strongly recommended that striking KTX women workers
be granted fair and just conditions of employment. The South Korean
Minister of Labor, the legal community, various media outlets, 500
university professors, 300 members of the literary community and a wide
cross section of NGOs including the Korea Women’s Association United,
Lawyers for Democratic Society, People’s Solidarity for Participatory
Democracy, Korea Women Workers Association United, and the People’s
Coalition for Media Reform have also called upon KORAIL to reinstate the
striking workers as directly hired employees, not as contingent workers
contracted through a third party. However, KORAIL continues to disregard
this overwhelming public outcry.

KORAIL, the nation’s largest public enterprise and employer of over 30,000
people, refuses to abide by the most basic and fundamental standards of
fairness and equality. KORAIL’s actions violate South Korean laws that
prohibit all forms of discrimination, as well as international standards
established by the ILO to protect the rights of workers. KORAIL is also
failing to comply with the international standards that the company itself
pledged to uphold when it joined the UN Global Compact in May 2007.

A website to support the workers states:
KORAIL’s blatant violation of the basic principles of democracy and human
rights deserve international criticism. KORAIL’s actions are indicative
not only of the pervasive inequality facing contingent workers in South
Korea, but also of systemic gender discrimination in South Korea. We urge
the international community to stand in solidarity with the KTX Crew
Workers in its brave fight for justice. We respectfully request your
signature on this petition letter in support of the KTX women workers.
This letter will be sent to President Roh Moo-hyun and UN Secretariat
General Ban Ki-moon, as well as the CEO of KORAIL.

More information
http://ktxworkers.blogsome.com/2007/07/13/support-ktx-workers/