C11 - Women's labor movements Cartes | Quizlet

TRADITIONS OF LABOR MOVEMENTS

- In 1920s: Various Movements Wonsan Strike Joseon Communist Party M1 mvt

• In 1930s: Revolutionary Labor Unions Female workers' strike cases, e.g. Kang Joo-ryong (1931) The great depression

• In 1940s: After the Liberation Leftist movements, the September Strike [9월총파업] (1946)

• In 1950s: Korean war : The Postwar Era Textile Factory Strikes in Busan

FEMALE WORKERS' STRIKES in 1970s

Despite poor working conditions and pressure from employers and the government, female workers emerged as a central force against labor exploitation

• In the late 1970s, female workers' strikes (e.g., Dongil or YH) became a major trigger in challenging the dictatorship

• At Dongil, workers attempted to form a union and staged a sit-in, which drew public attention due to police violence

• YH workers protested illegal factory shutdowns without wage payments ─ when the opposition party joined them, this anti-government protest ended the Park regime

LABOR MOVEMENTS in 1980s

-Labor unions emerged in heavy industry in the 1980s

Unions grew in size and number, leading to more radical protests

• College student activists joined the labor movement

- Guro Strike in 1985 is a representative case

- Workers-Students Solidarity

- Radical theories to understand and change society

• Labor Movements in Democratization

Right after the democratization in Jun 1987, labor movements became active in Jul-Sep 1987

─ Korean democracy shrank into a fixed procedure, and

discussions on economic justice faded from the public agenda

FEMALE WORKERS in the 1990s

Since the 1980s, the Korean industrial structure has changed:

Female labor shifted to the third sector,such as finance, insurance, retail, or service

• Changes in the labor market in the late 1990s (the IMF crisis),

employment became temporary and indirect:

- non-regular workers [비정규직], widespread

- subcontractors [하청업자], dispatched workers [파견노동]

• Feminization of Poverty [빈곤의 여성화] in South Korea:

gender wage gap, unstable job conditions, and workplace

discrimination ─ Equal Employment Act

WOMEN IN NON-REGULAR JOBS

Non-conventional employments became widespread Precariat e.g. Platform Labor Traditional labor unions, unprepared for this issue

• Gender inequality remains in the labor market: Career instability in female service positions Official and unofficial discrimination in recruiting

• Non-regular female employees became the key group to fight against the unstable employment ─ new types of activism outside of traditional unions e.g. Homever Strike by supermarket workers

KTX female workers' strike, Tollgate workers' strike

AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Q. What is sexual harassment in Korean law?

A. Sexual harassment means causing humiliation or discomfort

of a sexual nature, using one's position or work-related power

• After the Professor Shin Case (1993), various efforts emerged to fight against workplace harassment — including nationwide surveys, victim counseling, public campaigns, and academic debates

• Activists successfully pushed to include a sexual harassment

clause in the Equal Employment Act

WOMEN'S DUAL BURDEN ISSUE

The dual burden of paid work and unpaid domestic work for working women became a widely discussed issue — especially among the younger generation

• The M-Curve in women's career paths: Career breaks [경력단절] due to pregnancy, childbirth, care work

→ Disadvantages in hiring, promotion, and re-employment

• The issue of Care : Population decline and aging in South Korea

Dual-burden of working women, covering career and care

Outsourcing of care, e.g., famale immigrant care workers