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| A scene from the documentary film "Sewing Sisters" / Courtesy of Jin Jin Pictures |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Chun Tae-il, a tailor and activist who set himself on fire to raise awareness of textile workers' poor labor conditions in 1970, is a symbolic figure in Korea's labor movement history.
Following Chun's self-immolation, unions sprang up and hundreds of workers at Pyounghwa Market, a cluster of sweatshops in Seoul's Dongdaemun Market area, stood up to seek guarantees of workers' rights. The majority of them were women and girls who started working at garment factories as teenagers.
These young women were sent off to work to support financially desperate families, rather than going to middle school. The working conditions in sweatshops were grueling.
They worked overtime without proper compensation in unventilated small compartments made by factory owners, who would squeeze as many sewing machines and workers into their factories as possible. Female workers, as young as 13, would work 15 to 16 hours a day.
"The trauma I faced as a teenager was the fact that I couldn't afford the sanitary pads they sell in drugstores. I had to cut out inside pockets from jumpers and used them instead. Due to friction from movement, my groin area became inflamed," Shin Soon-ae, who worked as a garment worker in the 1970s, said in a press conference Thursday for the release of the documentary film "Sewing Sisters" that looks at the lives of textile workers.
Female workers who were eager to pursue further studies joined the Cheonggye Clothing Labor Union and attended a night school for workers. Education changed their lives and they learned to say no to unreasonable demands.
"I could neither straighten my back for fear of incurring my supervisor's wrath nor lean too far forward for fear of getting my hair caught in the machine. As a result, I still have sore knees," Shin says in the film.
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| An image from the documentary film "Sewing Sisters" / Courtesy of Jin Jin Pictures |
Im Mi-kyung, another woman who worked as a textile worker at Pyounghwa Market in the 1970s, said, "Part of the appeal of the union movement was that it offered secondary education. As I received education there, I came to realize that we were not being treated like humans."
Although they won basic health and safety improvements in the workplace, such as reduction of work hours and wage increases, the night school for workers was branded a "communist training school."
When the authoritarian government forcibly closed the school to crack down on the labor unions, workers fought back. Occupying the school from Sept. 9, 1977, they staged protests, with union member being arrested in the process.
Lee Suk-hee, who was arrested in 1977, said she decided to appear in the documentary film in hopes of reuniting with her long-estranged friends who suffered and fought for their rights alongside each other more than four decades ago.
The documentary focuses on the stories of the garment workers, and not the sweatshop operators. Co-directors Lee Hyuk-rae and Kim Jung-young explained it was their intention to simply focus on labor activists' point of view.
"Rather than telling the objective truth, I wanted to zoom into how these underprivileged people put their best effort toward bringing change," Lee said.
Director Bong Joon-ho showed his support for the film by attending its premiere. "Before we talk about Korea's labor movement history, this is a type of film we need to watch ― a film that follows the intertwined lives of individuals. The documentary weaves a complex plot as it moves from one thread of its story to another," Bong said.
"Sewing Sisters" will hit local theaters, Jan. 20.
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