① Workers Sangmu Nam and Jingil Lee at Boryeong Coal Thermal Power Plant in Chungnam
Only 14 out of 217 surveyed “prepare another job”
②Seoul Automobile High School Teacher Joonho Jo and students
“Study on electric vehicles, do it on YouTube”
③ Construction worker Sang-beom Lee, gas meter reader Kim Young-ae
“Extreme weather, blocking even work opportunities”
The mother, who has two sons, an umbrella man and a straw man, said he hated the bright sun. He said he hated raining days. Still, those days were suitable so that both the umbrella and the sandals could live. When climate change becomes severe, extreme heavy rains, extreme droughts, and extreme colds strike for a long time. No one’s job is safe. Met with workers who could not but be cut off if they could not adapt to the changes in the industrial structure brought about by climate change and abnormal climate. What I learned and learned throughout my life could be useless, and those who wanted to prepare for the future but couldn’t do anything on their own were anxious. Are you ready to accompany them on the road to carbon neutrality?
#One. Public enemy in infrastructure… Coal power plant worker
Jin-Gil Lee (48) has been working at Thermal Power Units 5 and 6 at the Boryeong Power Plant Headquarters of Korea Midland Power since 2010. It has been driving for 5 years to remove sulfur oxides produced when fossil fuels are burned. It now treats coal ash, a by-product. In December, the government confirmed the 9th Basic Electric Power Supply and Demand Plan and decided to shut down 24 coal-fired power plants that have been in operation for 30 years. This included Boryeong Units 5 and 6, which were completed in 1993 and 1994. Both facilities will convert bituminous coal to liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel in December 2025. Mr. Lee is an employee of KEPCO Industrial Development. Korea Midland Power is a prime contractor. Although he is a full-time employee, if the prime contractor stops coal power generation, he can no longer go to work at the power plant where he was working. Unloading companies, dock workers, security workers, and cleaning/environment beautification workers who are subcontracted again from KEPCO Industrial Development also disappear when the coal de-coal is completed. Mr. Lee is in charge of the Boryeong branch manager of the KEPCO Industrial Development Headquarters of the Korea Power Industry Union. He said he was already feeling the job insecurity slowly. “The Woncheong says that it keeps you hired by reducing working hours, but if you do, your salary will decrease. Currently, there is only a saying that the power plant will be gone, but there is nothing clear.”
On December 8th, Jin-gil Lee stood in front of the Boryeong coal-fired power plant where he was working, head of the Boryeong branch of the Korea Electric Power Industry and Development Workers’ Union. Boryeong / Reporter Choi Woori
Last December 9-15, conducted a survey to 217 employees through the labor union of KEPCO Industrial Development Boryeong-Shin-Boryeong Power Plant. More than half (119 people) who participated in the survey had a family of four or more. There were 21 in their 20s, 71 in their 30s, 83 in their 40s, and 42 in their 50s. If the operation of the coal power plant was stopped and the job was lost, he asked if there were other jobs available. Only 14 answered yes. When asked if they agreed to suspend the operation of coal power plants due to the climate crisis and fine dust, 174 people objected. On the other hand, when asked about the government’s intention to participate in re-education and re-employment programs in the process of coal removal, 170 responded positively. “The reason why workers cannot agree to suspend the operation of the power plant is because the future is unstable. Although the responsibility of coal power generation cannot be denied in terms of environmental issues, the conflict experienced in the process of denuclearization may be repeated if the problem of workers’ anxiety about unemployment, social criticism of what they have done, and the resulting decline in self-esteem are not well resolved. I said.
The country’s 60th coal power plant accounts for 28% of domestic greenhouse gas emissions and 10% of domestic fine dust. It has become an old symbol of the industrialization era that has intensified air pollution for the present generation and the climate crisis for future generations. The government and environmental organizations rank coal power as the number one exit to respond to the climate crisis. The Moon Jae-in administration also pledged carbon neutrality in 2050, promising to eliminate coal in the 2040s as early as the 2040s, but it has not yet specifically disclosed employment measures for the workers involved. On December 8, last year, I met Jin-gil Lee (48), head of Boryeong Branch, and Sangmu Shin (53), Director of the KEPCO Industrial Development Labor Union in Boryeong, Chungnam. About 10 workers at Boryeong Units 1 and 2, which were closed early at the end of last year, moved to the Seocheon Thermal Power Plant in Chungnam, run by the same government office. The remaining 200 people were scattered in search of a way to live. Although there is a burden to change the workplace, it is possible to move to new coal power plants in Goseong, Gangwon (2021), Gangneung (2022-23), and Samcheok (2023). However, in the future, Boryeong units 5 and 6 (converted to LNG in 2025), Dangjin units 1 to 4 (converted to LNG in 2029), Taean units 1 to 4 (converted to LNG in 2025-29) workers, etc. You have to leave the area where you lived or leave this industry altogether. Branch manager Lee Jin-gil wants to live in Boryeong, where he has a wife-in-law, but thinks, “If you want to continue this work, you can live a wild goose life.” The fear of the climate crisis is that what was believed to be right in the past may become wrong in the future. Branch manager Nam Sang-moo has worked in this field for 26 years. “At the time of joining, there was a lot of expectation that the future energy will be made of coal and nuclear power. It was dangerous, dirty, and difficult, but since it was a key industry and a public corporation, I believed that it was strong and stable, and since a few years ago, coal power plants have become public enemies with fine dust and greenhouse gases.” He, who is in his 50s, said he thought about driving a taxi when the power plant was closed.
On December 8, he stood in front of the Shin-Boryeong coal-fired power plant he worked for. Boryeong / Reporter Choi Woori
Renewable energy management and operation personnel such as solar and wind power are less than those of coal power generation. It is expected that renewable energy generation facilities will not be able to fully absorb existing coal-fired workers. For the time being, their employment may be maintained in combined cycle power plants that use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel. However, since combined cycle power plants also emit greenhouse gases, they are bound to close someday like coal power plants. Han Byeong-hwa, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities, said, “It can be difficult to meet demand only in the public sector. In the short term, moving to a private combined cycle power plant is inevitably an alternative, but since this is not clean energy, re-education related to renewable energy generation is essential.” As a result of the survey, the criteria for new jobs were salary 53.4% (116 people) and welfare such as work environment 34.1% (74 people). Resident area 17.9% (39 people), career and self-development 8.8% (19 people). (19 out of 217 selected multiple items) The level of salary stated by the union was 30 million won for the first time and 45 million won for the 10th year, which is not limited. This is because irregular night and morning work and the characteristics of dangerous work were reflected, which also meant that when the government proposed reemployment, at least this quality job should be provided.
surveyed workers in subcontractors of the Boryeong coal-fired power plant in Chungnam last December. One worker urged countermeasures, saying, “If the coal power plant disappears, there should be an energy business to replace it and it is right to provide jobs.”” alt=”<한겨레>Last December conducted a survey to workers at the subcontractor of the Boryeong coal-fired power plant in Chungnam. One worker called for a countermeasure, saying, “If the coal power plant disappears, there should be an energy business to replace it and it is correct to provide jobs.”
#2. Students studying gasoline in the electric vehicle world
Internal combustion locomotives driven by gasoline and diesel are also disappearing into history in the course of responding to the climate crisis. Norway (2025), the Netherlands (2030), the United Kingdom (2035), and Spain and France (2040) have declared the timing of the removal of internal combustion locomotives. South Korea is also discussing its exit plan with the goal of 2035. Electric cars and hydrogen cars take the place. Kim Min-seok (19), who met at the training room of Seoul Motor High School in Yongsan, Seoul on December 11 last year, is a senior. I plan to go to the automobile department of Inha. “Electrocars are gone. Mechanics, like doctors, learn by advancing skills. Honestly, there are many parts where what I learn here is useless.” Kim Won-tak (19) and Lee Joong-bin (19), who are advancing to Korea Polytechnic University, are somewhat confused as the automobile industry is changing rapidly. So, the major majors they chose were test (joongbin) and tuning (round table) that “will not disappear as long as there is a car itself.” Bae Jeong-won (18), a second grader, said, “I didn’t learn anything about electric vehicles.” Schools only teach hybrid cars. Still, there is a lot of interest in new electric vehicle models from Tesla or Hyundai and Kia. He said that although he has a green electric vehicle driver license that can repair electric vehicles, it does not lead to school education. Bae-gun is watching YouTube and studying electric vehicles alone. Joonho Jo, a teacher at the school’s automobile education department, finds YouTube videos and external research reports related to electric vehicles and delivers them to students. “It is true that the educational infrastructure has not been formed. There is no training manual for the green electric vehicle driver qualification test from the Office of Education, etc.” He said, “The ratio of new electric vehicles in Korea is the lowest among developed countries. If the infrastructure does not grow, educational institutions cannot keep up.” In addition to regular education, the United States actively supports field training for high school students to receive education for electric and self-driving cars. President-elect Joe Biden said he would create an electric vehicle ecosystem based on these changes and create millions of jobs. Lee Hang-gu, a research fellow at the Korea Automobile Research Institute, is concerned about “old culture” “Regardless of the increase in electric vehicle production, production line automation will inevitably reduce the number of production workers. In addition, in the era of electric and self-driving cars, more research personnel such as software development are needed than production workers. However, these changes are not reflected in the curriculum. There is no one to teach electric vehicles, and even automakers are not taking the lead. We need to change.”
On the afternoon of December 11, last year, Jo Jun-ho (far left) and 2nd and 3rd grade students are taking pictures in the practice room of Seoul Automobile High School in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. By Kim Hye-yoon, staff reporter [email protected]
#3. I can’t work in this cold wave… Outdoor worker
14.1% (3.2 million) of all Korean workers are outdoor workers who work outside even when it is hot or cold. Construction workers accounted for 15.8% of 38 industrial accidents with cold diseases and 47.9% of 146 industrial accidents with thermal diseases in 2014-18. Lee Sang-beom (31), a construction worker who met on December 9 of last year, said that outdoor labor is becoming more and more difficult due to extreme changing weather. As a mold carpenter, he builds a building frame at the Incheon apartment construction site. They stay outdoors for 11 hours a day from 5:30 am to 4:30 pm. He said he was afraid of the forecast that the cold wave would be severe this winter. “My hands are frozen and I am hurt a lot while hammering. I can’t work because the concrete isn’t hardened. I’m worried that this winter will be as cold as ever. Even now, I have put off all the concrete pouring work and my work is suspended.” His worries became reality. The work has been stopped for four days since the last 7 days when the morning minimum temperature in Incheon fell to -15 degrees Celsius. The heatwave that I endured in the field also became dizzy. “The temperature of the site where the sun is shining is 2-3 degrees higher than in other places. In the summer of 2018, I sometimes lost my mind. Like turning the switch off and on, there was no memory for 5-10 minutes.” Extreme weather can block outdoor workers from working opportunities. In the case of construction workers, when the rainy season prolongs, they cannot work and are directly hit by their income. Last summer, after the rainy season lasted for 54 days, Lee’s salary fell in half.
Lee Sang-beom, a construction worker who stood in the background of an apartment construction site in Seo-gu, Incheon, where he worked on December 14th. Reporter Kim Min-je
Kim Young-ae (54) checks the gas while traveling around Junggok-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. I have been checking the gas meter for 800 to 1000 households a day for 17 years. He struggled to work outdoors, but the cold wave made him nervous. Working with tight muscles in cold weather puts strain on the body. “It’s called Samhansaon. When it works, it gets warm after 3 days, so I adjusted the schedule to take a break, but now I can’t expect that.” The intensity of work in the summer comes differently. He goes up and down the hill for eight hours a day and does not bring a water bottle to minimize his luggage. “My area is Shandongne, so it was cool to go up high when it was hot. But now there is no such thing. Whether it’s high up or not, it’s hot and dizzy.” Attorney Ji Hyun-young (Duru Law Firm), who filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in December last year for human rights violations due to the climate crisis, said, “The Korean society has a strong tendency to understand the rights of labor in terms of labor-management relations and freedom of association. It is not easy to imagine claiming labor rights on climate issues that are difficult to regard as the responsibility of the government or company.” “Even if it is not the risk posed by the employer, the employer has a duty to protect the worker so that he can work in a suitable environment. The government must also provide institutional support.” By Boryeong/Choi Woori, Kim Min-je, staff reporter
On December 24th, Kim Young-ae is reading a gas meter in Junggok-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Reporter Kim Min-je