There's a lot to consider about the so-called "voluntary retirement" program at Kookmin Bank, the country's largest. To begin with, it would be worth asking whether the best possible route was taken when a bank that made humongous profits cuts staff in a time when job insecurity is becoming a social issue, and with the sudden agreement of the bank's union. The union and the management both note the unprecedented nature of the move, since those who desire to retire will be given 24 months' worth of severance pay, scholarships for their children, and stock in the bank. It is certainly an exceptional move indeed, since those are benefits that just do not compare to what are faced by most laborers who are forced to retire.
The seriousness of the problem, however, is to be found in how the bank's irregular workers are not receiving those benefits. That is discrimination that must not stand, particularly when you consider the larger reality, in which the ratio and very scale of the reduction in irregular workers is greater than the reduction in regular workers. It is another glaring example of how irregulars are unable to escape the discrimination they face when you see them discriminated against first while employed and then even in the process of voluntary retirement. Such discrimination is not something exclusive to Kookmin Bank. It has been the biggest issue of contention for some time now, not just in the banking industry but for the whole of Korean labor.
The Labor Ministry is supposed to enact measures on behalf of irregular workers and so should the ruling Uri Party, but through a consultative body with representation from the ruling and opposition parties and the government it has been decided that the types of businesses that can dispatch workers to positions elsewhere will be expanded in new legislation. The Labor Ministry continues to assert that the legislation it submitted to the National Assembly can be called the "Irregular Workers' Protection Law," but the labor community and even civic society are noting the problems with the proposed legislation. Meanwhile it is playing dumb about the naked and violent suppression of irregular workers at Hyunday Motors, where one irregular worker attempted suicide by self-immolation. For that reason one just has to ask the Labor Ministry whether it is carrying out all it should be in order to be true to its name. It needs to listen carefully to the reasons the labor community and civic society are speaking with one voice in opposition to a bill the ministry drafted.
The Hankyoreh, 1 February 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Ignoring Discrimination Against Irregular Workers |
