On March 1, 2006, approximately four hundred women who work as train attendants (similar to flight attendants) on the KTX “bullet train” began a strike to demand the end of discriminatory and unjust outsourcing practices of the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL). KORAIL officials led KTX women workers to believe that although they were initially hired under short-term contracts via an external company, they would be granted permanent status as direct employees of KORAIL after one year. However, the KTX Crew Workers Branch Union’s demands for direct and permanent employment have yet to be met.

<##IMAGE##> To date, the KTX Crew Workers’ Branch Union’s struggle is the longest and most bitterly waged fight by women workers in the history of Korea. For over 500 days, women who work as train attendants on the KTX bullet trains have held public rallies and marches, occupied buildings, lectured in classrooms, and conducted outreach on the streets and at train stations throughout the country. KORAIL’s continued refusal to meet the union’s demands for gender equality, safe working conditions and secure employment have led union leaders to engage in desperate measures to expose the unjust and unequal conditions under which they are forced to work. After exhausting every tactic, 31 union members began a hunger strike on July 2, 2007. As the hunger strike surpasses its 14th day, many union members have been rushed to the hospital.


Despite KTX’s sleek and high-tech image as the fifth fastest “bullet train” in the world, it is the site of blatant sexism and labor abuse. Of those train attendants who are irregularly employed under outsourcing agreements, the majority are women. In contrast, their male counterparts who perform comparable duties are directly employed by KORAIL as “team leaders.” Simply by being women, KTX train attendants are subject to lower wages, harsher working conditions, and heightened job insecurity. In addition, women workers face the perpetual threat of dismissal if they speak out against unfair conditions and sexual harassment in the workplace.

According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, KORAIL’s treatment of KTX female train attendants is a clear example of gender discrimination and a basic violation of human rights. The National Human Rights Commission has strongly recommended that striking KTX women workers be granted fair and just conditions of employment. The South Korean Minister of Labor, the legal community, various media outlets, 500 university professors, 300 members of the literary community and a wide cross section of NGOs including the Korea Women’s Association United, Lawyers for Democratic Society, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Korea Women Workers Association United, and the People’s Coalition for Media Reform have also called upon KORAIL to reinstate the striking workers as directly hired employees, not as contingent workers contracted through a third party. However, KORAIL continues to disregard this overwhelming public outcry.

KORAIL, the nation’s largest public enterprise and employer of over 30,000 people, refuses to abide by the most basic and fundamental standards of fairness and equality. KORAIL’s actions violate South Korean laws that prohibit all forms of discrimination, as well as international standards established by the ILO to protect the rights of workers. KORAIL is also failing to comply with the international standards that the company itself pledged to uphold when it joined the UN Global Compact in May 2007.

KORAIL’s blatant violation of the basic principles of democracy and human rights deserve international criticism. KORAIL’s actions are indicative not only of the pervasive inequality facing contingent workers in South Korea, but also of systemic gender discrimination in South Korea. We urge the international community to stand in solidarity with the KTX Crew Workers in its brave fight for justice. We respectfully request your signature on this petition letter in support of the KTX women workers. This letter will be sent to President Roh Moo-hyun and UN Secretariat General Ban Ki-moon, as well as the CEO of KORAIL.


////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
We respectfully request your signature on this
petition letter in
support of the KTX women workers. This letter will be
sent to
President Roh Moo-hyun and UN Secretariat General Ban
Ki-moon, as
well as the CEO of KORAIL. Please send signatures to
ktxworkers@gmail.com as
soon as possible. Please visit http://
ktxworkers.blogsome.com
for more information.

---------------------------

President Roh Moo-hyun
Office of President
Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House)
1 Sejong-no, Jongro-gu, Seoul
Republic of Korea

Dear President Roh:

As members of the international community, we stand
united in support
of the courageous struggle of the KTX Crew Workers?br> Branch Union. We
condemn KORAILs unethical legal efforts to maintain
the blatant
gender discrimination and unfair labor practices in
which the company
has systematically engaged. We urge KORAIL, the
largest public
sector enterprise in South Korea, to set an example by
promoting
global corporate responsibility and resolving the
dispute immediately.

According to the National Human Rights Commission of
Korea, KORAILs
treatment of KTX female train attendants is a clear
example of gender
discrimination and a basic violation of human rights.
The National
Human Rights Commission of Korea has also strongly
recommended that
striking KTX women workers be granted fair and just
conditions of
employment. We join with members of Koreas academic
community, legal
community and broad sectors of civil society in
demanding that KORAIL
reinstate the striking workers as directly hired
employees, and not
as contingent workers contracted through a third
party.

The refusal by KORAIL, the nations largest public
enterprise and
employer of over 30,000 people, to abide by
fundamental principles of
democracy and human rights violates international
standards
established by the UN International Labor Organization
(ILO) as well
as the UN Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW) to safeguard the rights of women
workers. KORAILs
actions also directly contradict the companys own
commitment to
abide by the principles of the UN Global Compact.
KORAILs actions
are not only indicative of the systemic discrimination
faced by
contingent workers in South Korea, but also contribute
significantly
to making South Korea one of the worst gender
discrimination
offenders in the world. South Korea ranks 29th among
the 30 OECD
countries and 53rd out of the 75 countries covered by
the UNDP Human
Development Report in terms of gender equality. We can
and need to
do much, much better.

We urge you to end KORAILs discriminatory and unfair
treatment of
KTX women workers and reinstate them as direct
employees. We urge
KORAIL to comply with the recommendations of the
National Human
Rights Commission of Korea, follow the guidelines set
by both the ILO
and the CEDAW, and abide by the principles of the UN
Global Compact,
which KORAIL itself joined in May 2007.

Thank you for your consideration of this important
issue.

Respectfully submitted,

[Name, Position, Affiliation*, Country]
* for identification purposes only