ABSTRACT
For many Koreans, 1999 is significant because it was the year when Korea successfully recovered from the economic difficulties brought about by the 1997 financial crisis. 1999 was also the year that three women-only unions formed in Korea. These phenomena are linked, as women suffered disproportionately during the economic crisis and because the union movement did not actively support women workers in their campaigns against discriminatory treatment. The first part of this chapter analyses the gendered dimensions of the post 1997 period of restructuring through a discussion of cases involving commercial banks and the Hyundai Motor Company (HMC). Both cases highlight the gendered nature of the employment restructuring programme; the disproportionate negative impact on women workers which was supported by mainstream enterprise-based unions. The cases diverge when we analyse the reactions of the women workers to their situation. While women bank workers accepted the job changes with little resistance, HMC’s women canteen workers organized themselves and successfully opposed both the management and the male union leadership. We argue that they succeeded primarily because they fought, but another contributing factor to their success was the support they received from a women-only union when their own union abandoned them.
