Jeju Tourism Workers Report Abuse, Demand Safer Environment

Jeju's tourism service workers are demanding the creation of a safe and respectful working environment, reporting unfair treatment including exposure to cigarette smoke, sexual harassment, and verbal abuse from customers. They described these experiences as dehumanizing and called for practical protection measures and improvements.

A survey conducted by the Jeju branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Tourism and Leisure Industry Union in October 2022, which polled 256 service workers in the province, found that 72.8% of respondents had experienced personal humiliation from customers. The results also indicated that 47.9% had experienced assault by customers, and 52.1% had experienced sexual harassment or molestation.

Worker A, with 20 years of experience at a large hotel casino, stated that VIP customers smoke in the gaming area despite the availability of separate smoking rooms, exposing her to cigarette smoke for nearly eight hours. Worker A recounted experiencing sexual harassment, with a customer saying, "Your breasts are big, so you'll probably have a good day gaming," and verbal abuse, such as, "You lost a lot of money, I'll kill you if I see your face outside."

At Jeju International Airport's duty-free shops, employees find themselves in a situation where customer complaints act as a tool for emotional control through the 'Voice of Customer' (VOC) system. Despite over 900 employees, they struggle with a lack of adequate rest areas. Worker B, who has worked there for 23 years, noted that while direct customer 'gapjil' (abuse of power) has decreased, the regulation and monitoring of employees' emotional expression persist. The company uses the VOC system to control employee emotions and reports even legitimate issues to headquarters. In handling customer complaints, there are instances where employees must placate problematic consumers.

The Jeju Airport duty-free shops, staffed by over 900 employees working in shifts, face a shortage of suitable rest areas near their workstations, forcing them to constantly attend to customers. They also face inconvenience, having to pass through security checkpoints to reach the departure hall or move towards the runway. Even a rest area located 20 minutes away is dilapidated and cramped, making it difficult for all employees to rest there. Sitting in the departure hall chairs often leads to complaints from airport users, preventing them from resting properly. Worker B lamented the disappearance of lunch meal coupons and the difficulty of using the inexpensive cafeteria within the lunch break, stating that even if they bring their own lunch, they have to eat it quickly in warehouse-like spaces, away from the eyes of airport users.

Tourism service workers are demanding that the protection of workers' rights and the improvement of poor working conditions take precedence over tourism promotion policies. The service trade union has presented a five-point demand to local election candidates, including △protection of tourism workers' health and safety △local government responsibility for tourism workers' lives and welfare △protection of rights for young tourism industry workers. Specific policy proposals include operating labor consultation bodies to strengthen labor rights, developing customized emotional labor protection measures, creating measures to protect workers from the climate crisis, expanding housing welfare policies, providing commute transportation subsidies, establishing a tourism worker welfare fund, and conducting employment/labor status surveys and impact assessments related to the introduction of digital/AI technologies.

Kim Kang-seok, head of the Jeju branch of the Korean Confederation of Service Industry Unions, pointed out that although tourist numbers have increased since COVID-19, young people are leaving due to poor working conditions, leading to labor shortages. He emphasized the need for practical policies to improve the treatment of tourism service workers. Kim stressed that Jeju's current approach of communicating only with management makes substantial improvements for workers difficult, advocating for the establishment of a dedicated body for tourism service workers or through tripartite discussions and negotiations between labor, government, and management to directly hear their voices and implement fundamental reform policies.