Women and labour organizing in Asia: Diversity, autonomy and activism

Abstract

Chun Tae-il, a young Korean tailor, had spent many years trying to attract the attention of authorities and union officials to the inhumane and exploitative conditions experienced by young women employed in Seoul’s garment sweatshops. He was ignored and in desperation committed suicide in 1970 by selfimmolation. As he died, he shouted ‘they are not machines’ (Chun 2003), referring to the young women who slaved to produce the goods which fuelled Korea’s economic development from the 1960s. His death gave life to a struggle led by women, which, despite brutal oppression by the ruling military dictatorship, challenged the state, employers and the management-friendly, maledominated textile unions (Koo 2001; Chun 2003; Park 2005). The courage of workers and other activists at this time contributed to an upsurge in democratic unionism in the 1980s, the legacy of which survives in Korea today.

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