Hongik University workers reach tentative agreement

Cleaners, guards and other non-permanent workers at Hongik University reached a tentative agreement with their employers, ending the 49-day labor dispute that started with a sit-in protest at the school campus in Seoul.

The two labor supplying companies that fired them decided to rehire them and further negotiated with the school on their behalf, according to the unionized workers. The union of the workers is a member of the the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

KCTUsaid Sunday that the workers have agreed with the companies regarding payments and working conditions during a meeting on Sunday morning with 86 workers of the 112 union members present. The settlement went through with 89.5 percent of the present voting for the settlement.

According to the agreement, the hourly wage will rise to 4,450 won for cleaners and 3,560 won for security workers on the condition of working eight hours a day, five days a week. The previous hourly wages were 4,120 won for cleaners, which was lower than the minimum legal wage of 4,320 won.

The companies also agreed to pay 50,000 won for meals and holiday bonuses respectively, along with making additional payments for overtime work.

According to the KCTU, the workers will return to work at the school starting from Monday.

The dispute among the workers, school and the labor-supply companies first emerged when some 170 janitors, cleaners and guards of the school formed a labor union Dec. 1 last year demanding higher wages and better working conditions.

The companies asked the school to reflect the demands but when it refused, they informed the workers of the termination of their contracts on Dec. 31 without notice.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/02/116_81737.html