Seongbuk-gu Apartment Residents Declare "We Will Not Abuse Security Workers!"

Declaration by Residents of Over 100 Apartments in Seongbuk-gu to Prevent Power Abuse Against Security Workers

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Residents of over 100 apartment complexes in Seongbuk-gu have declared a commitment to prevent abuse of security workers.

On the 14th, 40 members of the Seongbuk-gu Apartment Residents' Representatives Association (Seong·A·Yeon, President Son Seong-ho) gathered at the Future Planning Office of Seongbuk-gu Office to draft a declaration aimed at preventing abuse (harassment) of workers in multi-family housing, which they then delivered to Mayor Lee Seung-ro.

The declaration includes commitments to "express warm words and gratitude to multi-family housing workers, refrain from verbal abuse, physical violence, or offensive language using superior status, strive to improve working conditions, resolve employment insecurity, and work together for mutual coexistence."

Seong·A·Yeon, composed of current and former chairpersons of residents' representative meetings from over 100 apartment complexes in Seongbuk-gu, prepared this declaration to change perceptions of multi-family housing workers after incidents such as a security guard in another district's apartment taking extreme measures due to harassment by residents, highlighting ongoing harassment by management entities, residents, and some residents' representative meetings as a social issue.

Son Seong-ho, President of Seong·A·Yeon, stated, "Most apartment security and cleaning workers are non-regular employees dispatched by service companies, receiving minimum wage and working under poor conditions. Recently, abuse toward multi-family housing workers has become a social problem. The chairpersons of residents' representative meetings are taking the lead to spread the awareness that these workers are partners in coexistence with residents, not just costs of apartment management."

Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, said, "Although multi-family housing has long been a symbol of conflict and discord in our society, there are frequent cases where workers in apartments that have chosen a happier path alongside security and cleaning staff sharpen knives for residents or care for residents' family members with dementia. This shows the possibility that small interest and participation can change the situation," adding, "We will make various efforts to create a livable culture for both residents and multi-family housing workers."

Seongbuk-gu has a total of 160 multi-family housing complexes: 97 under mandatory management, 29 rental, and 34 under voluntary management. Every year, Seongbuk-gu prioritizes support for improving working conditions of multi-family housing workers through projects such as installing air conditioners in security workers' rest areas. As a result, the installation rate of air conditioners in security workers' rest areas reached 88%, ranking high among the 25 autonomous districts of Seoul as of December 2019.

Additionally, by prioritizing support for facilities that reduce communal electricity costs and encouraging employment stability for security workers, Seongbuk-gu is focusing on fostering an open multi-family housing culture where people live together harmoniously.

Seong·A·Yeon has been actively promoting a better multi-family housing culture through various activities, including establishing an ethical code for building representatives in 2016 to prevent abuse of security workers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.