Shin-hye wearing a dust mask and hard hat, Ae-sook wearing work gloves and holding a hammer, and Yeong-geum wearing work boots and carrying a screwdriver on her waist… … .
On September 14, a photo exhibition of female workers at construction sites wearing similar attire was held in the lobby of the National Assembly building in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which opened the photo exhibition, said, “Female workers are playing the role of craftsmen in various construction sites in Korea,” adding, “We want to publicize the appearance of female workers in various occupations and classes within the construction industry, and show them how they can show off various skills on site in their daily lives.” “We held a photo exhibition to show the images of female workers,” he said.
A collection of scenes and stories of the ‘sisters’ who guarded the construction site all four seasons and silently built the building.
Kim Shin-hye (51) has been a welder for 12 years. She got her start on a construction site as a firearms supervisor. She said that the photo that earned Kim her top prize at the 4th Photo Exhibition was taken at a work site in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, one day in the fall of 2020토토사이트. In the photo, Kim is welding a hot wire wrapped around her pipe.
She said, “When I was a firearms monitor, I looked into things the welders did. ‘Is it difficult to do this, sir?’ She went around asking. She had positive things to say. ‘Then where can I learn this?’ When she asked, she introduced me to union training. I was the first woman to receive training at the South Chungcheong Construction Workers’ Union branch. “She dug in for about three months.”
“We always have to be careful wherever we go, and if we fall, it only hurts us and no one knows. I’m the only one losing. Even when workers say, ‘Isn’t this a bit dangerous?’, there are many companies that respond by saying, ‘Just do it.’ So, whenever I go, I always go with the mindset of ‘I’ll be safe today too.’ Fortunately, with the introduction of the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the number of places concerned about worker safety has increased.”
It has been 7 years and 3 months since Kim Ae-sook (47) entered the construction site. She got the job through an older sister she met at a mountaineering club.
“She’s laying the basement parking slabs (the ceiling downstairs and the floor upstairs),” she said. You have to nail the ends carefully to get a nice shape. It’s the same feeling every day. “She ends the day safely, unharmed, and in harmony with the people she works with.”
One day in September 2021, Younggeum Park (48) installed a slab using panels at an apartment construction site in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do. Mr. Park ran a cafe, but was unable to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and closed down about two years ago. Since then, he has been living a ‘second life’ by working in the construction industry.
“Women can work just as well as men. He started working as a frame carpenter after gaining courage from union members who cheered him on by saying, ‘You can be a master of labor, not just a housewife.’ She labors with pride and pride.”
According to a survey by Statistics Korea, as of August 2023, there are about 151,000 female construction industry workers nationwide.
However, the treatment of female construction workers is poor. According to the construction union’s ‘2023 heat wave public construction site convenience facility survey’, 93% of sites did not have women-only shower or changing rooms. More than 86% of sites did not have a break room. Female workers are often placed in discriminatory working environments, such as being assigned to simple tasks or receiving low wages due to lack of opportunities to build skills.
The construction union accepted a photo contest featuring female workers at construction sites from September 18 to October 7, and plans to reveal the winners of the 7th Female Construction Worker Photo Contest on November 11.