2023-09-23 22:00:36
At around 9 a.m. on the 18th, Jeon Jang-yeon is being arrested by the police during a sit-in protest in the lobby of the Seoul headquarters of the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled. Provided by Jeon Jang-yeon
Seokyoung Moon (31) has been able to save since March of last year. She was now able to occasionally eat the ‘Outback’ (family restaurant) menu, which she had secretly said was “actually expensive food.” Including overtime pay, he earned regarding 1.2 million won per month. In addition to the money paid by the government to ensure ‘basic living’, the money Mr. Moon, a severely disabled person, earned while working as a ‘peer supporter’ who supported and counseled groups of other severely disabled people added luster to his life. 187 severely disabled people, including Mr. Moon, are at risk of being ‘all fired’ following working as peer support workers until the end of this year. The budget for the ‘Regional Customized Employment Support Project for Severely Disabled Persons’ (Peer Supporter Project) was set from 2.31 billion won this year to 0 won next year, leading to the project being abolished four years following its launch. Therefore, they occupied the lobby of the Seoul regional headquarters of the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled in Jung-gu, Seoul from 7 am on the 18th. About 10 minutes following the industrial complex employee warned of “illegal occupation,” the police entered and the scene turned into chaos. Screams of “Don’t touch me” were heard among the 27 disabled activists who were staging a sit-in protest, lying in a circle and holding each other’s arms tightly to avoid being taken away by the police. There was also an activist who handcuffed himself to a doorknob to protect his position. The phrases ‘Save it ~ Take responsibility for the peer support project and save it’ and ‘Meet us at the Ministry of Employment and Labor’ were written on their chests. Less than 90 minutes following the occupation, all 27 people were taken into police custody. Can I say that I just need to find another job? Even if the peer support program disappears altogether, Mr. Moon cannot think of returning to his previous private job. “It was so hard for me. I hated it because there were so many people who treated me badly. “I didn’t like it because he told me to do well no matter what, told me to ‘come to my senses’, and slapped me on the back all the time.” She doesn’t want to think regarding another manufacturing company she briefly worked for once more. “I hated having to work late without being paid overtime and sleeping in a cold container. too.” The National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination once morest Persons with Disabilities (Jeon Jang-yeon) demanded that the Ministry of Employment and Labor withdraw its plan to abolish the project, saying that the ‘peer support project’ is the only project in which severely disabled people are both recipients and providers of the project. It is a job project for people with severe disabilities, and at the same time, it plays a role in encouraging social participation and economic activities of people with severe disabilities who are isolated from society. Mr. Moon said the best thing regarding working was “not being lonely.” He said, “I see the activists I met while working as a peer supporter six times a year like friends. We go to events together, drink coffee, eat together, and feel reassured.” However, the Ministry of Labor announced that it would abolish the peer support program, saying that it overlaps in nature with the ‘peer counseling project’ of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s peer counseling project provides counseling on ways to become independent, such as social participation, to disabled people who want to become independent. Unlike the Ministry of Labor’s project, which links people to employment, the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s project aims at independent living. Lee Myeong-jin, an official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s Employment Department for the Disabled, said, “70% of peer support projects mostly provide counseling to people with severe disabilities, and 30% are related to employment,” and added, “We decided that it would be more efficient for the Ministry of Health and Welfare to provide peer counseling and for us to focus on employment support.” “He said. He also added, “I think the on-site judgment was that there was no significant difference between the two businesses.” In fact, the story of the field organization entrusted with carrying out the peer support project was different. Because the entry barrier to the Ministry of Health and Welfare projects is high, only ‘capable disabled people’ get jobs. Song Hyo-jeong, an official at the People First Seoul Center, said, “Except for 5 to 6 people nationwide, the rest of the people working on the Ministry of Health and Welfare project are physically disabled. “It is not an area of business that developmentally disabled people can enter,” she said. People with disabilities pointed out that ‘business similarity’ cannot be grounds for abolition in a situation where there is a shortage of jobs for people with severe disabilities. Eight out of 10 people with severe disabilities do not have jobs. According to the ‘Survey on the Economic Activities of Persons with Disabilities in the Second Half of 2022’ conducted by the Employment Development Institute of the Korea Employment Agency for the Disabled, the economic activity participation rate of severely disabled people was 23.2%, which was only half of the economic activity participation rate of mildly disabled people. Additionally, the employment rate is low at 21.8% for those with severe disease. Park Gyeong-seok, CEO of Jeon Jang-yeon, said, “There was a shortage of jobs for severely disabled people who lacked skills in a market that wanted capable disabled people.” He added, “The Ministry of Labor recognized the seriousness of the employment situation for severely disabled people and created peer support jobs as a way to promote employment.” He explained the business background. The Ministry of Labor cited the low actual budget execution rate as another reason for abolishing the peer support program. This means that the consignment agency carrying out the project was unable to fully use the budget allocated for the year. The Ministry of Employment and Labor cited the actual budget execution rate from 2020 to 2022 as the basis. The actual execution rate is 33.4% in 2020, 24.8% in 2021, and 38% in 2022. Activists criticized the actual execution rate, which was set during the social distancing period when social activities were reduced, as an unfair basis. Less than a year following the project pilot period in April 2019, social distancing began due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 fatality rate was higher for severely disabled people than for non-disabled people. Face-to-face counseling was difficult in the field, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor acknowledged the difficult situation and recommended non-face-to-face counseling. The general ‘execution rate’, which is not an unusual time, must now be considered. In December 2019, Seol Yohan, who was 25 years old at the time, jumped from the rooftop, leaving a text message to his colleague saying, ‘I’m sorry, I only caused you inconvenience.’ He was a peer supporter for the severely disabled who worked at the Yeosu Independence Center for the Disabled. Lee Jae-gap, the then Minister of Employment and Labor, expressed his condolences at the death, saying, “We will seek policy alternatives to increase the number of jobs for people with severe disabilities.” Now, four years following Seol’s death, what has changed is a decline in jobs and budget cuts, disabled activists said. Reporter Bae Hyeon-jeong [email protected]
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