Since the early 2000s, clusters of rare acute interstitial pneumonitis of children were noticed every spring in Korea. The prognosis was quite poor and many of them died. In 2011 April, 7 pregnant women were hospitalized for acute severe respiratory disease of similar nature, and half of them died.
The Korean trade union movement in the 1970s was led by women workers. Young women workers in the 1970s were mainly engaged in export-led light industries such as textile, garment, clothes, footwear and wig industries. They struggled against inhumane treatment, low wages, and long working hours through trade unions.
The struggles mounted by irregular Korean workers are inextricably linked to the overall democratic labour movement’s fight against restructuring. A history suffused with tears and agony, at the same time, the struggles are also a narrative of how contingent workers in struggle have broadened the boundaries of the democratic workers’ movement and become new subjects in the movement to fight labour flexibilisation.