hankyoreh

staff reporter)

By Song Ho-kyun, staff reporter

“I never thought it would be like this at a global business like McDonald’s.”

The disgruntled 23-year-old university student surnamed Kim has been working for over six months at McDonald’s, a business that has become synonymous with fast food. Workers are legally guaranteed a 30-minute break every four hours, but they also know that their co-workers’ load becomes even tougher when they rest. For those who bite the bullet and give up their break, the company does not recognize the time as part of their working hours.

On days with few customers, workers are often sent home early. The schedule varies according to the company’s needs: working overtime on some days, going home early on others. The irregular hours mean that workers have a tough time scheduling other engagements.

These are the ways the company has managed to keep employees like Kim working under 60 hours a month. The reason is clear: anyone working more than that would have to be paid a five-day workweek allowance.

Kim makes 5,210 won (US$5.10) a hour.

“It works out to about 200,000 to 300,000 won (US$196-294) a month,” Kim said. “Even when I work after my official hours, it often doesn’t count toward to my working hours. I think a just society is one where you can have faith that you will be appropriately rewarded for your effort.”

May 15 has been selected as Fast Food Workers’ Day. The date reportedly was chosen because of demands by organized labor in the US to raise the country’s minimum wage to US$15 an hour. This week, fast food workers like Kim will be joining in global solidarity.

In the US, a fast food workers’ strike that day is being led by the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers‘ Association (IUF). Part-time workers are also slated to engage in collective actions in support of the strike in front of McDonald’s restaurants in over 150 cities and 35 countries. In South Korea, press conferences and performances led by the Part Time Workers’ Union, Youth Union, and Korean Federation of Private Service Workers’ Unions are scheduled to take place in front of the Sinchon McDonald‘s branch in Seoul and the Kyungsung University branch in Busan.

Part-time workers from other fast food restaurants besides McDonald’s are also planning to join in.

“Everywhere you go in the world, fast food workers are suffering with low wages, long hours, and unstable employment,” said Cheong Ok-soon, secretary-general for the South Korean chapter of IUF. “They can’t live a normal life under the working conditions they face now, so they have no option but to fight in solidarity.”

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