August 9 - Workers Pay the Price

Labor History in 2:00 · Aug 9, 2026 · 1m

On this day in Labor History the year was 1979.

That was the day that young women workers at the YH Trading Company in Seoul, South Korea staged a sit-in.

The women made wigs for export.

The company had been one of the leading exporters in the nation.

But then the managers began to move the profits from the wig company to a shipping company under the same ownership, as well as to a film production company.

This drained the profits from the wig factory and left it in debt.

The owner shut down the company without warning, firing all of the employees.

These women did not only lose their jobs…