womenlink logo

WOMENLINK
activities for and with women workers

http://www.womenlink.or.kr/english/
email :
webmaster@womenlink.or.kr
Tel : 82-2-736-7883 | Fax : 82-2-736-5763 


Womenlink aims

    at achieving gender equality and women's empowerment in the workplace and in the community. It was formed in 1987, which was a historical year for both the people's movement for democracy and the labor movement. Womenlink has taken a leading role in securing women worker's rights and enforcing women workers' leadership in labor unions, focucing in particular on clerical women workers. It has performed various activities such as counseling, training and the amendment of women workers' related laws etc.

The major issues focused by Womenlink are

    equal work for equal pay, women's temporary employment, unfair dismissal, lack of child-care facilities, sexual harassment at work, prevention of appearance-based employment and maternity protection. For resolving these problems, we have joint activities with labor union and women unionists. The women workers members are involved in various small groups such as 'Watching Discriminatory Working Condition's, 'Press and TV Monitoring' 'Writing'etc.

Since the economic crisis under the IMF bailout, women workers have been the first to be fired. Women in long service, married or pregnant women, and women working in the same company as their husbands have been the first target. Women's job security has been unstable and marginalized in the labor market. The female heads of families became the poorest of the poor. Womenlink actively raises and make these issues public through researching the concrete situations and organizing open forums.

One thing Womenlink is concentrating on is to help and encourage unemployed women to be confident to get jobs through vocational training and psychological support. Furthermore, we are making efforts to organize unemployed women. Not only supporting women workers' struggles but also helping women organize themselves is very significant to empower them and to allow their voices to be heard. Another important measure is to push the government to implement feasible policies for women's job security.

In this year, one of the major activities of Womenlink to monitor the government's employemnt related policies.

    In doing so, it is imperative to follow up on women worker's practical and strategical demands and interests. Sexual harassment at work, which more than 80% of women workers suffer from is also an important issue. This year, we organised a teaching team to give lectures to workers and formed groups of lawyers to support victims as well as published reference documents.