In 1987, after decades of repression, more than 3.500 labour strikes hit the Republic of Korea. Workers from heavy industries and other sectors engaged in demonstrations to protest for better wages, better income distribution, social justice and democracy. Although the desire for a more democratic country should not be considered a direct determinant of the structural characteristics of industrial relations, unions entered the pro-democracy movement on a pragmatic and strategic manner. The demonstrations eventually undermined the control mode of the labor market by State and employers. In late 1987 there were direct elections and Roh Tae Woo was elected president.
Several reforms were implemented during the Roh government. The main changes were related to land ownership, financial transactions, power of conglomerates and labor relations. With the democratization, the benefits and salary adjustments, before exclusivity of a tiny portion of the administrative employees (white collars) of chaebols (Korean conglomerates), have been expanded to other workers (blue collars). In a contrary movement to global trends towards increased flexibility, the internal labor market in South Korea turned to enhance the functional stiffness and wages. Roh launched measures to restructure labor relations. Incomes policies were implemented through social wage agreements between unions and conglomerates. However, the social contract policy was soon abandoned, as several companies ignored the agreements and restricted its application solely to basic salary. During that time, chaebols introduced human resources management methods based on merit and productivity wages. Such model advanced rapidly, especially in the electronics industry. Notwithstandin...
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The deeply rooted history of a Confucian paradigm in Korea has for long limited women’s roles and rights. In the male-dominated and patriarchal society, women’s roles remained in the domestic sphere, where they were required to be submissive. However, with the introduction of westernization and modernity in the 1920s, modern generation was rapidly incorporated into colonial modernity. Korean women began to “redefine the Korean female identity” by displaying the “new woman” characteristics, in which some literate women initiated to “enhance their education, determine their own physical appearance, and contribute to the debate about changing gender roles and expectations”(Yoo, p.59) Fearing the threat of the emergence of the “new women” with
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In addition to these street demonstrations, there were massive waves of workers’ strikes in the mines and steel mills. At first, the government tried to threaten the protesters; the Committee of National Defense announced preparations for a national state of emergency. By the determination of the workers, the Communist realized that talks with the unofficial trade union were unavoidable. The actions of the workers’ forced the Communist regime to begin talking about the trade union movement called Solidarity.... ... middle of paper ... ...(1989 Twenty Years
Moran, J. J. (2008). Employment law: New challenges in the business environment. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
There were several specific labor unions and strikes that affected the general public. In 1866, the National Labor Union was formed. Their main goal was the 8-hour work day. The National Labor Union did have some setbacks in achieving this goal; one in partic...
Blanpain, R and Bamber, G J. (2010). Comparative Labor Law and Industrial Relations in Industrialized Market Economies: Xth and Revised Edition. Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International.
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And as China transforms its economy into a ‘socialist market economy’ it is held that the attendant social, economic, and political transformations necessitate that its state controlled IRs system is decentralized and more so, it should be converge with international best practice IR standards (Zhu, Warner, & Feng, 2011). Although the Chinese government has endeavored to reform its labor market, the “deep-rooted national culture and its long history of centralized state power” as exhibited by the tenets of the all-powerful All-China Federation of Trade Unions1925 (ACFTU), has meant that any initiated IRs reform should be “with Chinese Characteristics” (p.128). It is important to note in the 1980/90s most countries in the Western hemisphere and Asia restructured their IRs systems. This episode can be attributed to factors specific to these countries; but owing to the fact that most of Asia’s economies are linked to the global economy, it is posited that this process may not have been coincidental but it was occasioned by competitive pressures in the global labor market (Kuruvilla & Erickson,
The current labor movement in human relations, business and industry has deep roots in the past and is continuing to evolve in the present. The struggle for survival and the drive to become successful in society, and the business world, fuel the current activities. Grassroots movements for fair wages and tolerable working conditions bring workers together to collectively affect change through the formalized organization of labor unions. Social theorists have over the past century, attempted to explain the complex processes that occur within labor movements. Mishel & Walters theorize that collective bargaining units have a positive impact upon human relations, and labor negotiations within business, industry and politics. While some of their views are supported by popular social theories, other theorists’ suggestions contrast sharply with their opinions.
The laws and regulations surrounding Industrial Relations since the 1900’s have, at each reform, placed tighter constraints on the amount of power unions are able to exert. The reforms have also radically increased managerial prerogative, through an increased use of individual bargaining, contracts and restrictions imposed on unions (Bray and Waring, 2006). Bray and W...
Traditional literature in the field of labor relations has focused immensely on its benefit towards the employer and in the process equating it to working rules. This has been so despite the field being expected to cover the process of, labor management, union formation, and collective bargain; all which are anticipated to create a positive employer-employee relationship. This relationship is said to be positive if there exist a balance between employment functions and the rights of the laborer. Also important to note, is that this relation is equally important to the public sector as it is to the private one. Therefore, to ensure a mutually conducive labor environment exists, effective labor management process and inclusive negotiation program should be adopted (Mulve 2006; Walton, 2008).