Liabilities and roles of Y University are demanded by considering the subcontracting
structure of this case. Service contract through competitive bidding makes it possible to
select a company that offers the lowest fee, and therefore, it is difficult for the contractor to
improve the wages and treatment of the cleaning workers in order to reduce costs. So, the
wages and treatment of the cleaning workers are ‘a problem that only Y University can
solve.’
On the other hand, there is an opinion that this incident is meaningful in that it revealed the
perspective of students on the collective behaviors of university members. Unlike this case
and the majority of favorable opinions on the collective action of cleaning workers in the
2022 KBS poll on the collective action of cleaning workers in colleges, there were both
strong negative and favorable opinions about the damages therefrom. The negative opinions
were due to excessive noise from the rallies and biased logic and discriminatory remarks
made by the protesters.605)
Regarding this, some assert that it is necessary to recognize campus workers as essential
part of the university.606) A social discussion that demands the university, not the workers, to
take responsibility for the infringement of class rights and the problem of “damaging the
school image” caused by the assembly and demonstrations of cleaning workers must be
made.
C) The Role of the Universities as a Party to the Labor Issues and Sympathy of
School Members
Outsourcing of work to a service company is essentially for cost reduction. It is a common
phenomenon for the subcontract workers to be exposed to more risks of industrial accidents
or perform work under poor conditions, as compared to the regular employees. However, in
the process of outsourcing, it is a structural problem that preventive efforts and devices that
protect the rights and safety of subcontracted workers are underestimated due to ‘cost’
605) Financial News, “KCTU cannot tolerate assembly on campus,” “Improving the Working Conditions of the Cleaning
Workers on the Backseat,” Oct. 25, 2022.
606) Yonsei Chunchu, [Special Report on Cleaning Workers-①] Reporting the university society that does not respect
the essential labor, Aug. 28, 2022.
244
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