[No.84/Headline]Ruling parties delay enactment of the Maternity Protection Law
The ruling parties of Korea - the New Millenium Democratic Party(MDO) and the United Liberal Democrats(ULD) - decided, on 24th April, to delay the enactment of Maternity Protection Law, which was due to be executed in July.....
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Ruling parties delay enactment of the Maternity Protection Law
The ruling parties of Korea - the New Millenium Democratic Party(MDO) and the United Liberal Democrats(ULD) - decided, on 24th April, to delay the enactment of Maternity Protection Law, which was due to be executed in July, under corporate pressure and denial from the ULD. The Maternity Protection Law will increase the present 60-day maternity leave to 90 days, in conformity with the guidelines stated by the ILO and UN. Corporate organizations, such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Korean Industries, just before the parliament's legislative session, held a press conference and stated that 'the expansion of women's vacation and leave will make companies further avoid employment of women' 'the law will increase the expenditure of companies and will pour cold water on the efforts to revive the economy' - in fact boycotting women and labour organizations' the efforts of the last several years to revise the labour laws to protect the meager women worker's rights. An MP from the ULD, Cho Hee-wook, who is known to be the foremost antagonist of the Maternity Protection Law unhesitatingly said "my mother gave birth to me and then went back to work in the kitchen in two days. Korean women has 12 days of monthly leave, 12 days of menstrual leave, and then annual leave.....women get 105 days off out of 365 days. If women get 90 days of maternity leave, then they get 165 days off. Where in the world is there a country like this?", when in reality women workers are being laid-off for being pregnant. Or for being women.
Capital has always been against any protection of women worker's basic rights, but has further propagated for the abolishment of existing laws. Already, the enforcement of paid menstrual leave has been loosened on the basis that it is 'irrational' and 'backwardly' in this new era of neo-liberalism and corporate/industrial restructuring. The economic crisis and the neo-liberal policies that followed saw the increase in the oppression of women workers, from gender-based lay-offs to transfer to part-time work, and the retrenchment of basic rights in the workplace. Sexual abuse has increased in all parts of society, women's health is jeopardized and the burden of reproductive labour such as housework and childraising has increased due to the abolishment of public services. Kim Dae-Jung's slogan 'the new millenium is women's new era' is nothing but a an empty rhetoric, a complete blind eye to the reality that the women workers in Korea face, and as a result, a definite gesture in favour of capital and patriarchy.
Solidarity for Revising Labour Law for Women, a network of women and labour organizations which has been active since last August, has been holding sit-in's at the ULD headquarters, and rallying in front of the parliament. The Solidarity and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions will continue to hold rallies and demonstrations every week during May, and will heighten the level of struggle in June.
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