Gimpo International Airport cleaning service and cart maintenance agency workers on August 9 held a press conference to announce their strike action plan and demanded that the Korea Airports Corporation should abide by the wage and bonus set for the outsourced jobs in public sector services and to stop the rampant sexual harassment at the workplace.
According to the wage and bonus guideline in the cleaning service outsourced in the public sector which is annually surveyed and recommended by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises(KBIZ), the hourly wage is 8,209 won(US$7.50) and annual bonus will be 400 percent of the monthly wage. However, workers regardless of their duration of service are paid only the 2016 minimum wage of 6,030 won(US$5.50) and 175 percent of annual bonus.
Facing the wage exploitation and sexual violence and harassment at the workplace, workers on March 3 formed a trade union to protect themselves from the managers' abuses and to improve their wages and working conditions.
Response of the workers was overwhelming, as 120 out of 140 agency workers in total joined the newly formed trade union. They said in the press conference that when their demands are not met, they will stage a warning strike.
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