I. History

From February 1998 to January 1999: Inauguration meetings Jan. 10, 1999: The Seoul Women's Trade Union launched


II. Mission

(1) The Seoul Women's Trade Union (SWTU) is a women-only trade union, organized to achieve women workers' rights by women workers power.
(2) The SWTU dedicates to enhance unionization of women workers in Korea, which stands at only 5.6 percent as of 1998. Our efforts to organize women workers will be focused on women workers who are working at small enterprises with less than five employees and working as part-timers or contract-base employees, and unemployed women who are, in most cases, in low-income class with their basic rights deprived.
(3) The SWTU seeks a new way in running trade unions that will enhance women workers' self-respects and promotes their self-achievements. For that purpose, we will consider women workers' lifestyle, sentiments and ability before everything else in every aspects of SWTU activities such as making decisions, holding conferences, collective bargaining and activities, promotion and cultural events.


III.

(1) The SWTU is an independent trade union that has no upper organization.
The SWTU is a women-only trade union.
The SWTU is a regional union covering various occupations.
(2) Membership fee: 10,000 won (approximately US$ 8)
(3) consist of swtu : Unemployed women Non-full-time women workers (temporary workers, daily-base employed women workers, part-timer, dispatched women workers, insurance-sales women, women) Workers employed by non-profit organization.
Women workers employed by small enterprises Other unorganized women workers


IV. Activities

Major activities of the SWTU are led by five project teams, in which SWTU members as well as academics, experts and college students work together. Detailed activities of each project team are as follows;

Organization promotion team: Works for enhance organization of women workers. Runs programs on expansion and consolidation of the organization. Gives counseling to members seeking advice.

Education team: Runs education programs for SWTU members and officials, with holding weekly and monthly education programs. Also providing education programs for women workers in general. Latest program of SWTU for women workers was lecture on discrimination against women workers, titled "Who does divide women and men at the workplace?"

Publication and promotion team: Publishes SWTU newsletter, Right Now. Every month, the publication and promotion team publishes 1,000 issues of Right Now and distributes them as free of charge to labor unions, social organizations, women rights organizations, the Ministry of Labor, Special Committee on Women's Issue. (a government organization, set up by the current government for dealing with gender discrimination in Korea)

Research and study team: Conducts various fact-finding surveys on women workers and seeks ways to improve women workers condition at the workplace. Counseling center: Gives counseling and supports to women workers seeking help and advice.


V. Activities in solidarity with other organizations

Currently working with in solidarity with local labor unions, progressive NGOs, organizations of the unemployed, organizations of the handicapped, coed organizations of colleges, Asian women workers' organizations. The SWTU will continue to work with these organizations in solidarity and expand out solidarity with other organizations at home and abroad.


VI. Plan of actions

The SWTU, refusing the competition-only and money-only logic, is fighting for achieving basic social rights or women workers, such as shortening of labor times, justice in economic distribution, gender-equality at the workplace, against flexibility of labor market of neo-liberalism. Detailed plan of actions is as follows:

Programs for women workers at small enterprises to improve their welfare and enhance their rights Projects for abolition of all gender discrimination in employing workers

Programs for achieving maternity protection and socialized child care Education programs for women workers, to-be-women-workers, male workers and employers Projects for consolidation of the organization Counseling for women workers on their working conditions and sexual violence at the workplace

Programs for boosting employment of women workers Programs for boosting safety at the workplace and women workers health

Programs for consolidating and expanding solidarity with labor and social organizations at home and abroad

Other subsidiary projects necessary for the SWTU mission