Workers′ demonstrations are often remembered as clashes with heated exchanges and strained tensions. But there also exists a group of older workers shouting for the reform of unfair layoffs, massing themselves on the street on hot summer days. The moment they start their meal, policemen approach to take them to the station. Even the spirited cops hesitate from these workers′ admonition for having a meal first before engaging in any struggles. That′s because within their superior aura, disciplined from the harsh years of living, lies their dignity that cannot be disheartened by any means. Even faced with struggle soon to be curdled with assaults and anger, these old strikers finish their meal without haste. Hyundai Construction Equipment Service Co.′s laid-off workers staged a 450-day rally beginning in 1998, demanding their reinstatement. As laborers for the modernization of their nation, these workers have participated in the construction of major expressways in Korea and in the deserts of the Middle East. However, the resulting payoff of their thirty-year service is forced layoff for re-structuring purposes. Still, neither the tyranny of capitalists nor the pressure from the government can subordinate the ′mortal time′ as sickness suddenly snatches their comrade away from the laborers. The strike may have ended, but not the cancerous disease that spreads through the aged body of the laborer. Days of Human is an old-laborers′ tune that effectively exposes the shady side of modernization. (Nam In-Young)