Don't Ignore the Cries of the Non-regular Workers, "We Don't Want to Die Anymore" [Editorial]

[경향신문]

Another young non-regular worker hired by a subcontractor died while on duty alone. In the early hours of December 11, Kim Yong-gyun (24), site operator at the Taean Thermal Power Plant of the Korea Western Power Co., was found dead, caught in a conveyor belt that transported coal. Kim had signed a labor contract with the Korea Engineering & Power Service Co., a private subcontractor in charge of operating the power plant, only three months before. He began duty at 6:30 p.m. on December 10 and worked alone inspecting 4-5 km of the plant until 7:30 a.m. the next day. At a press conference under the title, "President Moon Jae-in, Meet the 100 Representatives of Non-regular Workers" in front of Cheong Wa Dae this day, a picture of Kim holding a sign demanding the direct employment of non-regular workers was released, adding to the sadness.

Since 2010, twelve workers of subcontractors have died in accidents at the Taean Thermal Power Plant alone. From 2012 to 2016, 346 workers have either been injured or killed due to an accident at power plants nationwide, and among them 97% (337) occurred in tasks carried out by subcontracted workers. More workers of subcontractors lost their lives because public power corporations sign contracts with the private subcontractor with the lowest price. Kim's company was originally part of the same public corporation as the power plant, but was privatized in 2014. If Kim had worked in pairs as the previous regular workers had done in the past, his colleague would have stopped the machine, preventing the terrible accident. Public power corporations refuse to adopt the government's guideline to switch the status of non-regular workers in the public sector to regular workers, claiming that the tasks of the subcontractors are not "essential maintenance work." Meanwhile, the death of subcontractor workers continues. Workers appeal, "It's okay if we don't become regular workers. We just don’t want to die anymore." The Ministry of Employment and Labor should thoroughly investigate and see if the power plant complied with the safety management regulations. And it should take an active stance on switching the operation and maintenance jobs at power plants, directly related to the lives and safety of the people, to regular positions.

President Moon Jae-in declared an age of "zero non-regular workers in the public sector" as his first task after his inauguration last May, but the situation has worsened for non-regular workers. According to Statistics Korea, as of August this year, non-regular workers account for 33.0% of all wage workers, an increase from last year (32.9%). The wages of regular workers increased 5.5% from a year ago, but it only increased 4.8% for non-regular workers, widening the wage gap even further.

The government needs to inspect the overall non-regular worker issue. Switching their status to regular workers is urgent, but it is also important to narrow the gap between regular workers and non-regular workers under the principle, "equal pay for equal work." We are also in urgent need of a social safety net, so that the lives of dismissed and unemployed workers do not fall into a bottomless pit. Labor, the government and politicians should come together to seek measures to prevent the "outsourcing of death" and "the irregularization of death."