2023-12-17 16:03:00
[영상=아모레유니온]
“I want to go back.” <방화 박하사탕 주인공 김영호>
“I want to return to my family.” <아모레퍼시픽 구조조정 거부자 J 담당>
Although the backgrounds are different, they are all the cries of those who want to return to the peaceful times of the past.
Peppermint Candy’s Yeong-ho (played by Sol Kyeong-gu), while serving in the military, killed innocent citizens as a suppressor of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.
After being discharged from the military, he lives in agony, unable to forget his past, and eventually ends his life by shouting this to the train running towards him:
Mi-Hyang Jeong gave up lunch and agreed to the interview due to the intensive working hours. Employees who came after lunch are having fun taking pictures in front of the office building. [사진=정수남 기자]
[스페셜경제=정수남 기자] Mr. J also started the interview by saying the same thing in a thick Busan dialect.
The following is a Q&A with J and Taeyong Ahn (New Commerce Content Team).
– How are you these days?
J In Charge = It’s still difficult. After enduring harassment at work to pressure me to retire for a year, I began to feel mentally ill and am receiving psychiatric treatment. If I could turn back time, I would like to erase all memories of the past year of bullying.
Not = Same. They are veterans of Amore Pacific with 24 and 25 years of experience, respectively. Now, all of the employees in charge of J and myself have left the company, leaving us alone. Since it is over 20 years old, it is the number one target for restructuring.
– I heard that Manager J lives in Busan.
J In Charge = That’s right, Busan. The company has been forcing voluntary retirement at the end of every year since 2019, and I refused. As a result, we came to Daegu (2020), Pohang (2021), Hamyang (2022), and finally Seoul (October 2022). When I worked at the Hamyang branch in 2022, I commuted 370km every day. I left home at 5 a.m. every day and spent eight hours commuting to work, taking two round-trip express buses, city buses, and subways six times. It’s also a one-person work system. In this winter, when the cold wave is already upon us, I feel very sorry when I think of myself on my way to work in the early morning. When I think about that time, I support people like me on the road who live today rather than tomorrow. When I think back to that time, I feel like ‘my heart is in hell.’
– Generally, when a company assigns an employee to an unemployed position, the company supports initial settlement costs, etc.
J Person in charge = Would you do that to an employee who refused to resign? When I was forced to relocate to another area, I was told that the housing cost support for long-distance assignments that the company applies to other employees does not apply to me.
– Your original home is probably in Busan, but what about your family?
Jeong = I have a son who is in middle school and a husband.
– The second year of middle school is puberty and you desperately need your mother’s help.
Jeong = For the past four years, since my son was in the 5th grade, I haven’t been able to do that at all. We only see each other on weekends because we commute to Daegu, Pohang, and Hamyang. When I get home, my child is sleeping, and I go to work before my child wakes up.
Tae-yong Ahn said, “For employees with over 20 years of experience like Mi-hyang Jeong and himself, this is the first restructuring.” [사진=정수남 기자]
– I saw a banner in front of the office building that said, ‘Do not discriminate against multiple unions.’
Ahn = The representative union at the head office was mainly comprised of production workers, excluding office workers and research institutes. A multi-union union comprised of general, office, and sales employees was launched in September of this year to respond to the company’s routine restructuring.
– The new labor union held a rally in front of the company building early last month and ordered the company to take positive action against those who refused to retire.
Ahn = The company said it would investigate in accordance with its code of ethics. We are currently trusting and waiting for the company, but it is unclear whether fair action will be taken.
Jeong: I think my son saw that video on the Internet. It wasn’t like that before, but after the video came out, they came to pick us up at Busan Station. It takes almost an hour to get from Haeundae to Busan Station.
– okay. Then, the representative union would have negotiated wages and negotiated collective agreements this year (September 2023 to August 2024).
Ahn = Increased by 5.2% compared to the previous year. At other companies, wages increase from the beginning of the year, but Amore has a unique structure where wages increase from September. I think this is similar to shrinkflation (an economic practice that adjusts sales volume so that changes in unit price are not felt).
In Korea, the fiscal year for the government and companies runs from January 1 to December 31, but for Amore Pacific, it runs from July 1 of the current year to June 30 of the following year.
Although the salary adjustment takes into account the inflation rate, management performance, and employee ability, it is ambiguous to calculate the level of change in these factors when looking at the company’s fiscal year.
– In addition, there was a banner opposing outsourcing put up by teachers at the company-managed daycare center in front of the office building.
Ahn = Currently, there are directly managed daycare centers in the Yongsan and Osan factories and Singal Research Institute, but the company has decided to entrust the operation of these to an external company. Teachers currently working here are pointing out ’employment instability due to unilateral changes in teachers’ employment patterns’, ‘impeded autonomy in daycare operation and curriculum’, and ‘difficulties in strengthening the level and quality of daycare care’.
During the interview, Jeong Mi-hyang is picturing her family in Busan and looking at Yongsan Station, where the KTX passes. [사진=정수남 기자]
– The conclusion is restructuring.
No, that’s not true. Currently, about 40 teachers are working at these three daycare centers. Considering that the company claims to have restructured 159 of the 312 employees in the sales organization and made a profit, it cannot be guaranteed that the 40 employees will continue to be employed through outsourcing.
– Currently, word of mouth is spreading in the business world that Amore Pacific has a relatively excellent work-life balance.
Not = That’s true, but the company is currently going in the opposite direction.
J = I have been living a life without dinner with my family since I have been away 4 times in the past 4 years. Are you saying this is a company with a good work-life balance?
– It’s a pity. Do you have any last words?
J Person in charge = The company representing K-beauty is just cruel to me. I joined Amore Pacific, fell in love with the company, and invested all of my 20s and 30s in the development of Amore Pacific. The price for this is restructuring. Some people are enduring cruel harassment from executives and managers inside fancy buildings. Currently, a labor law firm is being investigated regarding workplace bullying, and once it is concluded, I would like to return to my hometown, Busan, and live and work with my family and dinner.
Ahn = Amore Pacific is still a company I love. 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the founder, the late Chairman Seong-Hwan Seo (1924-2006).
The late Chairman Seo Seong-hwan always said, “Don’t lie.” This may mean conducting proper management. I hope that perpetrators of workplace bullying and those in charge of restructuring will think carefully about these words.
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