"Celebrities Can Live with Covid, But the Staff Can't" COVID-19 Threatens Jobs of Media Workers

[경향신문]

Illustration / Kim Sang-min

“I’m really careful in case I get it (Covid). I can’t be fired just like that.”

Media workers, whose employment is unstable, have been exposed as a group vulnerable to the fifth wave of COVID-19. They not only have to worry about contracting the virus, they also have worry about getting their contracts terminated if they do. A, a freelance staff working on the production of a TV drama said he can get fired if he gets COVID-19.

On December 16, the Kyunghyang Shinmun obtained a service contract for the production of a TV drama with one major broadcasting company, and it stipulates, “If the staff cannot fulfill his obligations concerning the drama due to a disease, accident or other inevitable cause, the production company can terminate this contract.” A service contract for the production of a 16-episode cable TV drama also states, “When the staff fails to provide services or when it is impossible for the staff to provide services within the contract period without a just cause, if corrections are not made within seven days from the day they were officially requested, the production company can terminate this contract.”

The suspension of tasks due to a COVID-19 diagnosis appears to be a just cause. But industry insiders argue that the situation is different on the field. Kim Gi-yeong, head of the broadcasting staff chapter of the Hope Solidarity Union said, “Usually, the system allows companies to terminate contracts if a staff can’t work for seven or more days,” and explained, “Each time there is a wave of the novel coronavirus, workers head out to the field with the psychological burden that they can be removed from the workplace at any time.”

A service contract for the production of a TV drama aired this year. It includes a clause allowing the termination of the contract due to an illness.

The situation is the same for script writers, who are mostly non-regular freelance workers. They may even have to drop out of the show altogether if they leave the site after testing positive for COVID-19. Their places, temporarily vacant, are filled by substitute workers. The production team waits for major stars and producers to return, but unlike them, no one waits for a writer to come back. Some contracts between writers and broadcasting companies still have a clause detrimental to writers that allows the company to fire the writer if she cannot join the show due to illness. This clause can provide grounds for “Covid layoffs.”

What’s more, the contract period is unclear--stated as “when the show ends” or “at the time of future broadcast reprogramming” in the contract--making it easier to lay off writers. Kim Han-byeol, chief of the Script Writers Union said, “In the contract, the only clause protecting writers is the one that states that the company must give a four-week prior notice of layoffs,” and argued, “It is a plain fact that on the field, companies are unfairly terminating contracts with writers using Covid as an excuse. We, at the union, are planning to investigate the cases of unjust layoffs.”

Background actors, who are day workers, are also struggling. To appear in a show, they have to submit a certificate of a negative COVID-19 test result issued within 72 hours. Even if they are fully vaccinated, they cannot get any work if they don’t have the negative test result. So workers who make a living as a background actor must get tested once every three days. Mun Gye-sun, head of the National Background Actors Union said, “Many background actors are getting tested until their noses are sore to work,” and added, “Since they suffer a huge blow in their living if they are confirmed positive or are put in quarantine, they are extremely careful.”

However, some people point out that the disease prevention measures on site are lax, unlike the high barrier forced against the background actors. Some “powerful” staff, such as the stars and producers, are reluctant to wear masks and refuse to abide by basic disease prevention measures. One script writer said, “When I work, I often wonder if it’s okay for us not to follow the distancing measures like this,” and added, “I find myself laughing when I see the announcement before the show starts saying, ‘This show was filmed in accordance with the distancing measures.’”-