Cleaning workers died, and Seoul National University students appealed through a poster to prevent the death of workers. Photo by Seulgi Yoon, intern reporter seul97@asiae.co.kr
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The family of a cleaning worker who recently died in a lounge on the Seoul National University (SNU) campus announced on the 15th that they will refuse the school's investigation.
On the 15th, Mr. Lee, the husband of the deceased cleaning worker, said at a meeting between the bereaved family and the labor union held at SNU, "Until yesterday, I believed the school would conduct a fair investigation, but now we refuse (the investigation)."
Mr. Lee emphasized, "Those inside the (school) have already shown their tendencies through the media," adding, "They have been unreasonable and involved the labor union, trying to forcefully obtain what cannot be accepted by the school, which is degrading."
Earlier, SNU requested its on-campus Human Rights Center to investigate whether there was any human rights violation due to workplace power harassment related to the cleaning worker's death. The SNU Human Rights Center is an organization under the Student Affairs Office, which includes the Student Affairs Director as an operating committee member.
However, former Student Affairs Director Koo Minkyo posted on social media about the cleaning worker's death, saying things like "the victim cosplay is disgusting." He resigned from his position after the controversy escalated.
The National Democratic General Federation of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions criticized, "An investigation by the Human Rights Center is a 'self-investigation' and completely lacks fairness." They added, "Although the Student Affairs Director resigned, if the head's perception is like that, the staff's perception is likely no different."
They then requested Democratic Party lawmakers Lee Haesik, Lee Tanhee, and Jang Cheolmin, who attended the meeting, to form a joint investigation team composed of the labor union, the school, lawmakers, field workers, and experts.
Additionally, the labor union revealed allegations of power harassment by dormitory safety management team leader Mr. A, as well as contents of the second exam paper that included English and classical Chinese questions. The union claimed that Mr. A said "pass" in an evaluative tone when the deceased wore a leaf-patterned outfit to a meeting, and when cleaning workers complained about difficulties with weeding work, he said he would reduce wages and outsource the remaining labor costs.
On the other hand, Mr. A explained in a phone interview with the media, "I applauded those who wore floral-patterned clothes, and the deceased said, 'I wore leaf-patterned clothes, why don't you applaud me?' so I jokingly responded by applauding as well."
He further explained, "There is no promotion or personnel evaluation system, so the comment about deducting points for improper attire was just a joke," adding, "I thought there were parts where cleaning workers were undervalued, so my intention was to raise their dignity, but some may have found it difficult to accept."
Dormitory cleaning worker Mr. B also claimed, "Team Leader A is not at fault," and said, "Before related articles appeared in the media, workers never complained among themselves about exams or meeting attire."
He said, "The previous team leader hardly managed cleaning, but Team Leader A was very meticulous," and added, "Previously, lunch breaks were about two hours long, but when Team Leader A set it from noon to 1 p.m. according to the labor contract, the break time was shortened, which may have caused some dissatisfaction." He also added, "I took the point deduction as a joke, and weeding work was one of the tasks done every year."
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