[The Typing Baker] Voices of Those Who Took the Dawn Bus No. 6411

'How Much Am I Worth?'... Now Everyone's Question

Recently, a book funding campaign held at an online bookstore attracted significant attention from the political sphere, cultural and artistic communities, and civil society. The book titled "How Much Am I Worth?" reached its fundraising goal immediately after the campaign started, thanks to support from various sectors. In just one week, the amount raised exceeded four times the target of 3 million won. This indicates that many people resonate with the stories conveyed in this book. The question "How Much Am I Worth?" is not only posed by the waste collection workers, delivery workers, dormitory academy workers, substitute drivers, migrant workers, caddies, part-time parcel delivery workers, school meal workers, call center counselors, garment factory workers, slaughter inspectors, translators, social workers, full-time homemakers, entertainment writers, and hair designers who wrote the pieces in this book. It is a question shared by all of us who strive to fulfill our duties despite low wages and harsh working conditions.

This book compiles the experiences of 75 workers at their workplaces into written form. Each piece is a short essay about one A4 page long, written by people quietly working in their respective labor fields. However, the intimate stories contained within leave a lasting impact. A car salesperson talks about the reality divided between regular and non-regular sales staff. The sales showroom is split into branches staffed by regular employees and dealerships staffed by non-regular employees, creating a kind of "class" system. A worker on night duty at an entrance exam dormitory academy raises the issue of not being allowed to freely use break time and being made to wait unpaid at their work location. This is a habitual violation of Article 54 of the Labor Standards Act, and after filing a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, CCTV surveillance began, the worker lamented. A person who worked at a foreign-invested company points out that companies receiving various benefits from the government under the pretext of job creation casually lay off workers through liquidation, while the government turns a blind eye, saying "foreign-invested companies have always been like that."

Perhaps their struggles are like hitting a rock with an egg. However, through this, we can look into the desperate reality we face. Readers naturally begin to reflect on those around them as they experience the hardships of lives they have never lived. These are the faces of working people who support and sustain our society but whom we usually pass by without notice. Imagining how they work and when they laugh and cry leads to the realization that these faces are no different from my own or my family’s.

The author’s name is written as "Voices of 6411." This was inspired by a story about bus number 6411 mentioned by the late lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan in his acceptance speech as co-leader of the Progressive Justice Party in 2012. Starting his speech with "There is a bus number 6411," Roh said that the first 6411 bus departing at 4 a.m. from Garosu Park in Guro-gu, Seoul, quickly fills with workers who wake up at 3 a.m. to clean buildings in Gangnam. We live alongside workers whose names we do not even know, and Korean society is sustained by these workers. Since this speech, "bus number 6411" has become a proper noun representing marginalized labor classes. A migrant worker in this book wrote that they want to live well together. "For that, I hope my day, my life, is treated 'as it is,' as a person who wants to live well just like you," they said. Closing the book, it is heartbreaking that such a natural statement must be emphasized in reality.

(How Much Am I Worth? / Voices of 6411, author / Changbi / 20,000 won)