Unending ordeal of dismissed KTX attendants

Like many of her peers, Kim Yung-sun had a strong attachment to her first job six years ago: an attendant on the domestic bullet-train, the KTX.

Kim Yung-sun who for two years has been leading a lawsuit to get 34 dismissed KTX attendants reinstated

/ Korea Times photo
by Park Si-soo

By Park Si-soo

Like many of her peers, Kim Yung-sun had a strong attachment to her first job six years ago: an attendant on the domestic bullet-train, the KTX.

Enhancing her affection was her years-long endeavor to make it and envious looks by people. They made it possible for Kim, then 23, to endure a grueling work schedule and to keep smiling before passengers on a train that runs at speeds of over 300 kilometers per hour.

“I was strongly proud of being a KTX attendant, we were called ‘flight attendants on the ground,’” Kim said in a recent interview with The Korea Times in Seoul. “My peers and I did our sincerest best and helped each other to set a good precedent in the new profession.”

The first recruitment of KTX attendants in early 2004 drew huge media attention because of the unprecedented form of in-carriage service they were to provide, which was equivalent to first-class in-flight services. Such services were put on hold for cost saving. A total of 350 attendants were selected in the first recruitment through a fierce competition of 100:1.

But now her pride and smile are long gone.

Left are piles of legal documents and facial wrinkles deepened through a lawsuit against Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), the KTX operator, over what she called “unjustifiable” dismissal.

The first court ruling demanding 34 dismissed KTX attendants, including Kim, be reinstated was made last August after a four-year-and-five-month court battle. But the litigation still remains unsettled as KORAIL appealed the decision.

“The struggle is not over,” Kim said. “I feel like I have become a cold-hearted ‘warrior’ through the lawsuit, in stark contrast to an attendant with a benign smile.”

She added that before she was embroiled in the litigation, such an unjustifiable dismissal was something she could read about in newspapers, which would never happen to her.

“But this is an actual situation I’ve confronted.”

The KTX, which debuted here in March 2004 after the transfer of French technology, is now in negotiations with California State of the United States over technology export. For that reason, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Korea earlier this month.

Wrong from beginning

Kim said things went wrong from the very beginning.

The 350 attendants, all female, belonged to “Hongik-hoei,” a for-profit foundation associated with KORAIL that governs some 600 stores at train stations across the country. It currently runs independently.

“In an orientation, the KORAIL president asserted that although we belonged to Hongik-hoei, we would be treated the same in all kinds of compensation as regular KORAIL employees, citing the train operator’s ownership of the foundation,” she said.

The next year, Hongik-hoei rebranded itself as KORAIL Retail and disassociated itself from KORAIL management. Since then, KORAIL Retail has served as a subcontractor of KORAIL that provides in-carriage sale services and attendants.

“We were forced to sign a contract switching our employment to KORAIL Retail. And then we worked as workers dispatched to the KTX,” Kim said. “Worse, we found our compensation and welfare going backwards.”

The affected attendants took a collective action against the employer in late 2005. She recollected that they were intimidated, verbally assaulted and faced salary cuts.

“KORAIL threatened to change manpower provider, if we kept protesting. At the same time, it contacted participants one by one in a secret manner to discourage them from protesting,” she said.

To earn public support, attendants boycotted wearing uniforms in carriages in February 2006. On Feb. 26, they were blocked from access to the trains.

“It was the day we declared war on KORAIL,” she said.

Fighting against the state-controlled behemoth on a high-speed rail service was tough for those without experience and knowledge about collective action. Poorly organized rallies were ridiculed by management.

Sick and tired of an “endless” struggle, participants left one by one to seek new jobs.

Adding to their woes was the management’s intensified campaigns aimed at dispersing protesters.

To recover stalled dialogue with the management in the wake of an executive shakeup, they staged a hunger strike. Of them, five staged a sit-in at the top of a steel tower near Seoul Station, which is located just next to KORAIL headquarters, in August 2008. Kim supported them at the bottom.

She recalled it as the worst situation she had experienced in her life.

“The sadness I felt at the time was beyond description,” she recollected. “Frankly, my belief backing the protest swayed, self-questioning that for what they had to climb up to the top, enduring sizzling sun rays and deadly thirst even at the risk of being arrested by police while descending?”

In October 2008, 34 protesters filed a suit against KORAIL, demanding their reinstatement. And another 119 followed suit.

In a ruling in favor of them in August, Judge Choi Seung-wook at the Seoul Central District Court ruled KORAIL as their “de facto employer,” demanding the plaintiffs be reinstated.

“KORAIL, which owns a 100 percent stake in KORAIL Retail, directly controlled the recruiting process, trained selected attendants and controlled them. It was confirmed that KORAIL Retail had no right to make any decision on their duty independently, which means the plaintiffs were directly hired by KORAIL,” the judge ruled.

Hopes to be back on board

Despite the victorious ruling, it’s uncertain when she and 33 other peers will be allowed to return to their previous positions.

KORAIL has appealed the decision, insisting that it was not direct employment.

Kim is confident of their winning the battle.

“I don’t think the ruling will be overturned. And the final decision will reaffirm that what we are doing is right,” she said.

These days, she imagines herself in uniform holding a microphone on a KTX giving the message announcing departure.

“Dear passengers, nice to meet you. This is Kim Yung-sun, an attendant who will serve you until your destination. To help your trip to be comfortable, our attendants will make great efforts. Thank you so much,” she whispered recollecting her last presence as an attendant on Feb. 25, 2006.

“I will be back,” Kim said feeling goose bumps all over her body.