총 36페이지

EyeofTheArgus
29
FairTreatmentisWhat
TheyNeed
By KimMin-ji
PlanningDirector
A
billontemporaryworkers,whichwasrevisedin2007,willberevisedthenreconsideredinanextraordinarysession
inApril.Beforeconsideringtheearlierlaw,thelegislatorshastenedtoamendthebill.Thedetailsofthelawthatwill
bechangedwillextendthetwoyearsofanirregularworkers’employmenttofouryears.Somesayitisnotasimple
change, but a retrogressive revision of the bill. Seemingly, it is likely to make the workers’ lives in Korea more stable by
giving them two more years to work. Considering many of the companies, though that have recently abused the irregular
workers bill in the two years since the law was revised, such as KTX women employees, E-Land, Kiryung Electronics,
revisingthebillthistimeisnotgoingtobesimple.
Manypeoplewereconcernedthatthebillinplacenowontemporaryworkerswouldforcetheworkerstobedismissed
afterbeingherefortwoyears.Thiswasbecausecompaniesintendedtoavoidchangingthemintoregularworkersaftertheir
two-year employment. This July, 2009, it has been two years since bill about irregular workers was revised. About one-
millionirregularworkersmightgetdischargedwithoutreasonablegrounds,ratherthangetpromotedtoregularworkerstatus.
Thatwasexpectedresulttwoyearsago.Changingthelawisthecenterofthisconcern.Extendingtheemploymentperiodof
theirregularworkersdoesnotguaranteetheirstableemployment,butitdoeshelptheiremployers’profitsinthatitwould
costthecompaniesmoretopromotetheworkers.Itseemsthatextendingtheamountoftimeirregularworkerscanstayin
Koreaatthatstatusmostlyhelpstheemployers.
Thecompaniesclaimthatemployingtheworkersforfouryearsislessdangerousandmoreprofitableforthemthanonly
keeping them for two years. The laborers, however, are always nervous about their temporary status. They cannot live
withouttheuneasyfeelingsthattheyareapttobedismissedanytime.Duetothechangedlaw,itbecamemuchmoredifficult
forthemtogetpromotionstobecomeregularworkersthanitwasbefore.
Whatissurprisingisthattheleadingpoliticalpartyinthelegislatureisambiguousaboutrevisingthelaw,eventhoughthe
governmentisbehindtherevision.Inthepoliticalcommunity,thereisanimportanteventcomingup?theelectionsatthe
endofApril.Becauseofthistheattitudeoftheleadingpartycouldchangequickly.Abouthalfoftheelectoratesupportsthe
laborers,sotheleadingpartyisthinkingabouttheirpositionseriously.Thisshowsthatthelawaboutforeignlaborersisbeing
takenadvantageofbythepoliticiansasameansoftheirsuccessinelection.Theimportanceofpublicopinionishardtofind
intheNationalAssembly,althoughitshouldbethefirstconsiderationinlightofthelaborers.
Theessentialproblemshouldbechanged.Theperiodisnotthatcrucial,butwhatthepoliticiansshouldbeconcernedabout
istheworkers'stablelivesandalsotheirworkingconditions.Asanaside,itseemsthatthegovernmentonlycaresaboutthe
numberofthejobsthecompaniesneedtogettheworkcompleted,notfortheforeignworkersdoingthework,orevenfor
interns,forthatmatter.Projectsforincreasingthenumberofjobsandinternshipprogramsinpublicfirmsareexamplesof
these policies. These are temporary measures, however, as the period of the jobs is at most ten months and when the
employees finish their work, they leave without any expectation of employment with the company where they did their
internship.Thequalityofthejobmustbeconsiderednow.Abusingtemporaryworkersarbitrarilybythebillsneedstobe
preventedforthebettermentsociety.
kmj07@hufs.ac.kr
APRIL 2009

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