For sixteen years, Pak Geum-ja was a cafeteria worker at a public school in Suncheon, South Korea. She worked next to appliances that made so much noise that she began to lose her sense of hearing. Her job wore her down so much that her mouth was constantly full of pus-filled blisters. She made less than 500,000 won (around 440 U.S. dollars) a month. She thought of quitting countless times but always ended up throwing away her resignation letter as she had two young children to support. In 2010, she said, “Enough is enough.” She started calling other cafeteria workers in her region and proposed the idea of forming a union.
