[Editorial] Ssangyong and social homicide

Posted on : 2011-04-04 13:21 KST Modified on : 2011-04-04 13:21 KST

A mental health study has revealed that the psychological health of workers affected by restructuring at Ssangyong Motor following a May 2009 strike and violent government crackdown has seriously deteriorated. Information has frequently come to light about the suffering of workers laid off by the company or put on unpaid leave with a promise of reinstatement within one year, but these findings are nonetheless shocking.
A study conducted last month by Green Hospital on 193 workers affected by restructuring reported a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurrence rate of 52.3 percent, while some 80.0 percent of people showed signs of depression at a severe level that required psychological counseling. This rate of severe depression is even higher than the 71.1 percent recorded in August 2009 just after the strike. Nearly all of the workers, 95.9 percent, reported that their marital relationship had deteriorated, and their average post-restructuring monthly income, at 822,800 Won ($757), represented a 74 percent reduction from their previous salary. This indicates that the lives of these workers have worsened dramatically with the passage of time. A clear example of this is the unexpected death or suicide of thirteen Ssangyong workers and worker family members since the strike.
Their plight declined precipitously over a two-year period amid neglect from society. For 462 workers on unpaid leave, the promised one-year period has elapsed, yet the company maintains it is unable to begin reinstatement. Workers who retired or were fired are having difficulty finding new employment because of the Ssangyong “scarlet letter,” and have been making do with temporary jobs and day-to-day work. Also absent has been any social safety network to address their deteriorating health and financial anxieties. This is why the suicides of Ssangyong Motor should more appropriately be called social homicides.
We can not any longer allow the workers and their family members to throw themselves off a cliff. These findings should be taken as a final warning.
In 2007, the European Union’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities presented three general rules for safeguarding the health of workers during times of restructuring. The first was to allow them to obtain better work, the second was to provide high-quality education, social protections, and health services, and the third was to provide the necessary social solidarity and support.
It would suffice to simply follow these rules. First, Ssangyong Motor must present a new blueprint for reinstatement of the workers on unpaid leave. There also needs to be a bold settlement of the lawsuit filed by the government, Ssangyong Motor, and the insurance company claiming damages and provisional attachment of around 23.5 billion Won from members of the Ssangyong union as a means of holding them civilly accountable for the strike. We also urgently and without a doubt must provide the workers with emergency livelihood support, job placement and training, and health recovery programs for them and their family members.
  
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