“장시간 노동 감추고자 다른 사람 이름 근무일지에 적기도”…휴식시간 보장 못 받는 공항 보안검색 노동자

On January 28th, a 40-year-old security screening employee named ㄱ씨 at Incheon International Airport's Terminal 2 revealed that they sometimes worked continuously for up to 1 hour and 30 minutes while doing x-ray inspection on passengers' luggage. The job required them to check the luggage of passengers passing through the airport screening system, ensuring that no items were left behind. This task demanded immense concentration, as missing a small piece of luggage could compromise the safety of the flight.

While the job may appear easy, it requires high levels of concentration and expertise. According to ㄱ씨, "Even though the security screening job looks easy, one must have high proficiency. Since one needs to maintain focus constantly, ensuring adequate rest periods is crucial." However, the workers at Incheon Airport were reportedly not receiving the mandated rest breaks.

The national aviation safety plan and the Incheon Airport security search work procedure stipulated a maximum continuous work time of 30 minutes for security screening workers handling luggage x-ray inspection equipment. Even with advanced equipment that could automatically detect suspicious items, the maximum continuous work time was extended to 45 minutes. Yet, many workers reported not receiving the necessary rest periods.

One worker, ㄴ씨, a 30-year-old, stated, "One should not write down working 45 minutes or more on the work log," adding, "In such cases, they write down the name of another worker who can do the work instead." Some even switched to different x-ray inspection machines to continue working. ㄱ씨 explained, "To avoid circumventing the rules, they switch to other machines after completing 45 minutes of work on one machine."

The reason for working long hours was due to long waiting times at the security screening checkpoints, which could lead to complaints from passengers. Workers were sometimes deployed for work during rest periods to prevent such complaints. The union explained that the culture at the airport had evolved to deploy workers even during their rest periods to manage the influx of passengers, especially during peak travel seasons.

The number of international passengers at Incheon Airport reached its highest record this year, making it the world's busiest airport.

The Incheon Airport Security Integrated Workers' Union held a press conference at Terminal 2, requesting an investigation into the conditions of x-ray inspection work by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Seoul Metropolitan Airport Authority, and Incheon Airport Co., Ltd. They demanded improvements to be made, emphasizing that the workers' workload had consistently exceeded the maximum allowable standards stipulated in the national aviation safety plan and the Incheon Airport security search work procedure.