Arirang TV caught discriminating against freelance broadcasters
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Bang Suk-ho, Arirang TV CEO
By Park Si-soo
Arirang TV, a state-run English-language broadcaster, was found to have put its freelance broadcasters, program directors and their assistants under poor working conditions, not offering them proper insurance coverage and other benefits they deserve.
Forty one percent of the company’s 421 workers, or 172 were freelancers or irregular workers, were discriminated against in terms of working conditions, according to Rep. Jeong Jin-hoo of the minor opposition Justice Party, Friday. They worked at the Seoul-based broadcaster as MCs, writers, disc jockeys, voice actors, camera crew, directors, coordinators or program editors, he said, citing data given by the company.
The absence of so-called standardized working contracts laid the groundwork for such discriminative treatment against freelance broadcasters, the lawmaker said. The absence of such contracts enabled the company to sack three out of seven freelance reporters it selected in December last year without justifiable reasons, he added.
The government has pressed state-run companies for several years to use a standard working contract reviewed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism when hiring employees, but Arirang has refused to comply, keeping its own contract in place, which has many loopholes.
“It’s not mandatory for Arirang to use the standard contract. But this case revealed that there are many problems with Arirang’s contract,” a secretary for the lawmaker told The Korea Times. “Arirang should adopt the standard contract as early as possible. Also, Jeong and other lawmakers will step up efforts to enact a law mandating state-run companies to employ the standard contract.”
The Korea Times phoned the Arirang TV spokesman several times, but got no answer.
The government made the standard contract in July 2013 to eradicate unfair business practices in the broadcasting industry.