The Era of Cultural Discourse Now "Some Workers Are More Equal"… The Class Division Within Us, as We Question on Jeon Tae-il's 56th Commemoration

[The Era of Cultural Discourse Now]-15

From an Appeal of Common Sense to a Mirror of Ideological Divide

On November 13, 1970, 22-year-old tailor Jeon Tae-il set himself ablaze in front of Pyeonghwa Market in Cheonggyecheon and cried out a slogan that was not grandiose ideology. "Comply with the Labor Standards Act." It was an utterly common-sense and rule-of-law appeal asking the nation to uphold the positive law it had enacted.

On this day marking his 56th commemoration, the ways in which he is remembered differ by ideological faction, but the harsh reality where two perspectives meet is singular. The Republic of Korea has achieved remarkable growth, but the landscape of workplaces still remains in the shadow of the attic room of Pyeonghwa Market.

The Light of Growth and the Shadow of 90% Blind Spots

Just as the pigs in George Orwell's novel Animal Farm rewrote the Seven Commandments to justify their privileges, stating "Some animals are more equal than others," our self-portrait today is no different. "All workers are equal. However, some workers are more equal than other workers."

In an era of 13% unionization rate, unlike those who enjoy rights under the protection of the fence of large corporations and permanent workers, 90% of wage workers—those in workplaces with fewer than five employees, platform workers, migrant workers and other unorganized workers—still endure alone in the blind spots of the law.

Beyond the Rampart of Vested Interests, Toward the Path of Sharing

More bitter is the contradiction of vested-interest labor centered around massive unions. At sites of struggle, they call out burning solidarity, yet when dividing results and fruits, they have thoroughly upheld exclusive interests within the fence and tolerated discrimination—this is our shameful reality. We must painfully reflect on whether the fence of labor has become not a bastion of the weak but another rampart of vested interests.

In his 1969 diary, Jeon Tae-il wrote, "Who would understand the lonely struggle of one who seeks to become a bastion of the weak?" More than half a century later, his question remains valid before the 90% of workplaces left unprotected.

In this season of commemoration on his 56th anniversary, what is truly needed is not grandiose slogans of struggle. It is the act of first laying down one's own fence of vested interests and extending a hand to the most painful places—this would be the first step toward the true 'labor liberation' that the young man dreamed of half a century ago.