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Hwang Sang-ki, father of late Samsung Electronics leukemia victim Hwang Yu-mi, holds up a photograph of his daughter and her coworker at his home in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, on July 22. (Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)
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Dismissed crew members and leukemia victims may soon see semblance of justice
“In ten years, even landscapes can change,” a Korean saying goes – and now some major labor-related issues are finally approaching their resolution after a decade without progress. One hundred eighty KTX crew members dismissed 12 years ago are returning to the job as regular workers, and an agreement on an arbitration plan for the conflict over leukemia cases among Samsung Electronics workers looks imminent, whereas an apology and compensation seemed unlikely ten years ago. It’s a weight off the shoulders of people who have struggled for years with frustrations on the streets, in courtrooms – and sometimes at the scene of high-wire protests. It’s also comes thanks to perseverance and resistance, unbowed by the formidable barriers of vested interests. “I’m still hesitant to talk about it.” Hwang Sang-ki, father of late Samsung Electronics leukemia victim Hwang Yu-mi, remained quiet after the company announced on July 22 that would accept the arbitration plan of the Arbitration Committee for Resolution of the Leukemia and Other Occupational Disease Issue at Samsung Electronics Workplaces. Racing through his head were all the difficult experiences he faced over the 11 years since his daughter passed away. After a recommendation put forth by the committee in July 2015 ended up falling through, Hwang and the semiconductor workers’ health and human rights watchdog group Banollim had to spend another 1,020 days holding a sit-down strike in front of the Samsung Electronics head office. Keeping a promise to his deceased daughter This time, even Hwang appeared optimistic that the long battle was over. “When our Yu-mi was still alive, I made a promise to find out what made her sick. Everything that has happened so far started with that promise to Yu-mi.” Now it looks as though Hwang will be able to honor that promise soon. The chances of arbitration falling through are slim enough for both Samsung Electronics and Banollim to announce their intention of agreeing to the committee’s arbitration plan when it emerges in a little over two months. The committee, Banollim, and Samsung Electronics were also scheduled to hold a signing ceremony on the morning of July 24 to agree on the meditation approach. On July 22, the area around the sit-down strike in front of Samsung Electronics was broiling hot. It was difficult to breathe in the weather - but the looks on the participants’ faces were fairly positive. “After holding out so firmly, it now looks like Samsung is finally bowing its head,” said labor attorney Cho Seung-gyu, 27, who has been working to “watch over” the Banollim sit-down strike since early this year. “Banollim has already changed a lot of things. This may be the start of a change for Samsung,” he added hopefully. A Samsung official said, “With the conflict over leukemia cases going on unresolved for the past ten years, I think we saw the arbitration plan presented by the Arbitration Committee as a last opportunity.” “I was very bitter at first – we’d had the ‘candlelight revolution,’ yet it seemed like our particular world wasn’t changing. [Now] I’ve come to embrace the hope that our society is transforming.”
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Members of a religious organization that supported the cause of 180 unjustly dismissed KTX crew members bow in gratitude to the South Korean public during a press conference on July 21 near Seoul Station. The press conference followed the formation of an agreement to reinstate the dismissed workers as regular employees. (Kang Chang-kwang, staff photographer)
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