• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-28
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• 2018

This paper studies and evaluates the present situation of three decades of 'Minjoonojoundong' in Korea with a long-term perspectives. It had grown up during 1987 labour regime era and has declined abruptly since 1998. The backdrop of this decline was the transformation of labour regime from the 1987 regime to the dependent neoliberal one. The Korean labour movement did not respond to the changed structural conditions as it sustained its old strategies, militant unionism. Now the 'Minjoonojoundong' in Korea has met three difficult problems that are connected with each others. They are militant economism, political economism and formal industrial unionism. However the 'Candlelight Revolution' occurred in 2016 winter has opened a chance of regime change that could strengthen the 'Minjoonojoundong'. The revolution was primarily a political one. But it also created a dramatic situation change in labour politics. The candle-citizen demanded radical change of the polarized Korean society and overflown contingent workers. So it is a time of radical and overall innovation for the 'Minjoonojoundong' and KCTU. And they have to keep the long-term strategical vision of labour regime change.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.29-64
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• 2018

This paper reviews the dynamics of growth and decline of Democratic Labor Union(Minju-nojo) Movement from the perspective of the conflicts among the industrial relations actors on the institutional incorporation of KCTU, a transformation of industrial relations institutes, and labor flexecurity in the change of political opportunity. The negotiations for the institutional incorporation of KCTU concluded in the 1997-98 labor laws. Since 1998, the conflicts and the compromises on the change of 1997-98 labor laws has continued. It was a kind of games for the transformation of the institutions of industrial relations and labor flexcurity. But the 1997-98 labor laws has shown the path-dependency. Since 2008, a cycle of the movement has entered a decline stage. The decline of Democratic Labor Union Movement came from the institutionalization of the movement, the change of political opportunity, and a generational change of 1987 cohorts group which has been the center of the movement.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.57
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• pp.69-83
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• 2012

This paper attempts to explore the development of the media labor movement and its tasks. Due to the unique characteristics of information delivered by media, the media labor movement under the authoritarian regime was oppressed and regulated by the government. As democratization has proceeded, the state's oppression and regulation of media has been weakened. However, media workers should wage the struggle for union recognition and independence of editorship simultaneously. Because media unions as labor market organizations also seek for job security and wage increase, we need to understand both political dimension and economic dimension of union activities in media industry. While state's control over media has been diminished in the late 1900s, competition in media industry has been intensified. As small number of media corporations monopolizes the media market, the ecology of media has been completely transformed. Unions in media industry should respond to the change of the media ecology and should build solidarity among media workers at the same time. The achievement of the public nature of media as a part of democratization and building union federation of media industry as a response to the marketization of media still remain as an epochal task for media unions. Like the case of "Hope Bus" in the strike in Hanjin Heavy Industrial Corporation, solidarity between citizens and striking workers should be strengthened.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.179-209
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• 2018

Three dacades of time have passed since the Korean labour movement experimented its political empowerment struggle. Generally it has failed for all some positive results. But unfortunately there were no critical and intellectual reflections regarding the failure within the labour movement. This study drew three conclusions. Firstly, the success or failure of political experiments was caused mainly by the labour regime changes of the Korean society. Secondly, the motive power was provided not by the progressive party, the Democratic Labour Party, but by the trade union movement and organization, the Minjoonochong. Lastly, the Candle-Light revolution in 2016 has produced some new conditions for the second stage of political empowerment praxis in Korean labour movement.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.67
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• pp.152-176
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• 2014

Public opinion has dramatically shifted from positive to negative in Korea society especially since the IMF crisis. Such terms as 'aristocratic union', 'collectivism', 'damages on public interest' became a kind of conventional wisdom. Undoubtedly, media's representation has much to do with such a tantamount difference. This study thus attempts to understand the mechanism by analyzing media discourse related to labor strikes. For this purpose, this paper made a choice three cases including doctor-pharmacist dispute, general strike by truckers' solidarity, and Ssangyong Motor's strike. Total 217 editorial pieces of , and conceived to be a representative newspaper of ideological stance were analyzed. Research showed that while paying particular attention to demoralizing labor strikes, shed positive light on such disputes by articulating fundamental causes hampered by pro-capital policies along with anti-labor law enforcement. The believed to be relatively a neutral one showed ambivalent attitudes toward those cases. More favorable and inclusive reporting were found in accordance with policy shifts as well. Media's selective partisanship for the sake of private interests is firmly believed to downgrading credibility on Korean journalism. Also is fair, balanced and less biased reporting over socal disputes a vital part in crystallizing social consensus. In this consideration, the authors hoped this study to provide an opportunity to contemplate on what would be desirable journalistic values in modern democracy.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-28
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• 2018

Now labour policy of Moon Jae-in Administration is very different from the labour reform politics of the past ages in its structural conditions. Especially the difference is in the fact that the new labour policy is originated from the Candlelight Revolution in 2016 which has resisted to the 20years-long neoliberal domination. This kind of change in the political situation made a optimistic prediction with regard to the possibility of successful labour reform. However the future is in many points so uncertain that we could not confirm the success of labour reform at all. The uncertainty always resides in the structural unbalance between labour movement power and capitalist state power bloc in Korea. In this sense strategical orientation and practices of the democratic labour movement(KCTU) are very critical to produce some positive outcomes.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.201-229
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• 2008

본 논문에서는 노동자문화정치의 관점에서 파업을 새롭게 정의하고, 파업을 비롯한 노동자 문화실천의 정치적 효과를 분석하기 위한 방법론적 요소들을 검토하였다. 여기서 파업은 참여주체들의 다양한 사고와 합리성들을 중심으로 형성되고 확장되는 내재적인 정치의 장인 동시에, 다양한 기표적 실천들이 전개되는 문화정치의 장으로 정의되었다. 파업의 발생과 전개의 각 과정과 국면에 대한 문화정치적 분석 요소로서 장소성, 공간, 시간, 정서, 기호자원, 담론이 고려되었고, 이 요소들에 초점을 두고 민주노조 파업에서 드러나는 문화정치적 제약들을 H사 노조 사례를 통해 검토하였다. 문화정치적 제약들은 노동자 문화의 생산과 수용에서의 제약으로 드러난다. 노동자문화 관련 텍스트들의 분석과 조사 자료를 통해서 볼 때, 그것들은 첫째로 노동자 문화 활동가들의 생산 실천 상의 제약과 관련있고, 둘째로, 노동자 대중의 노동자 문화 수용 혹은 소비에서의 도구성과 시 공간 상의 제약과 관련있는 것을 확인했다. 본 논문은 이러한 제약들이 70년대 이후에서 90년대 전반에 이르는 시기와는 달리, 현 시기 노동운동의 문화적 자원들이 신기술과 사회문화적 변화에 걸맞게 변화 확장되지 못하고 오히려 축소된 데 기인한다고 추론하였다. 따라서 지속적인 운동의 조건과 기반을 능동적으로 조성하기 위해서는, 파업을 비롯한 노동자 문화의 생산과 수용 전반에 걸쳐서 작용하는 재현체계 상의 제약, 특히 기호자원의 한계라는 근본적인 제약을 넘어서기 위한 노동자 문화정치의 필요성이 제안되었으며, 문화실천에 몸담고 있는 문화활동가나 노조활동가들이 파업과 일상 활동 속에서 문화정치적 주제들을 찾아 이론화하고 정책에 반영하는 문화활동 방안이 제안되었다.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2016

This study evaluates the strategic capacity of Korean labor union movement by examining policy alternatives and strategic steps that the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have shown in response to Park Geun-Hye government's labor market structuring policies. While the government-led labor reform was carried out as intended, organized labor has not simply failed to achieve progressive labor reforms to enhance employment security, but also to exert their strategic capacity effectively for preventing Park's labor market flexibilization policies. The two national centers have not been able to exert their strategic capacity (such as intermediating, framing, articulating, learning) for mobilizing the resources of internal solidarity, network embeddedness, narrative discourse, and organizational infrastructure. In particular, the formation and diffusion of public discourse is a significant part of strategic capacity of labor unions dealing with the labor politics of labor market restructuring, since organized labor, which is under the unfavorable constraints of limited movement resources and power imbalance with the business circle, needs to mobilize massive support and participation from union members and civil society organizations. In this light, it becomes of more importance for labor union movement to exert their strategic capacity toward internal solidarity and network embeddedness in the stage of labor market reforms. Under the recent stage of labor reforms, however, the labor unions has not harnessed their movement resources effectively, but undertaken their protest in a traditional manner, thereby losing its public efficacy from inside and outside. Moreover, it is necessary to build and activate the network of organic solidarity among organized labor, civil society organizations and progressive political parties, in order to cope with the pro-business coalition of power elites for accomplishing pro-labor reforms.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.143-178
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• 2018

This study is aimed at empirically examining the Korean unionists' solidarity using the survey of 476 full-time workers employed at the unionized workplace. It also questions the determinants affecting the unionist' willingness to be united with the contingent workers. The Korean unionism has faced the biggest challenge, that is, the crisis-in-worker solidarity. Although prior literature has noted the crisis in Korean unionism, it lacks a solid investigation of individual workers' perception of solidarity which may play a key role in building up worker-solidarity in the union movement. This study first examines the three sources of solidarity allowing for the historical and theoretical approach to the modern solidarity; economic interests, worker-identification and empathy, which provide an emprical framework for this study. The empirical evidences shows dynamic aspects as of how the full-timers perceive solidarity with the non-regular workers in the three terms of solidarity. First, full-time unionists share rare willingness to be united with contingent workers in terms of economic solidarity. In addition, the KCTU (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions) with social reformative orientation has little influence on increasing their member's orientation towards solidarity. Second, it is found that full-time unionists have more willingness to identify themselves with the non-regular workers as a member of the labor class. The KTCU is also positively associated with their member's will of identification with contingent workers. Third, the unionists, however, show little empathy toward non-regular workers, which is contrast to the willingness to worker identification. No causality is also found between the KTCU and their members' empathy for the others.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.165-195
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• 2017

This paper deals with 'men facing limits of lives' from a perspective of struggle for social recognition. Men facing limits of lives in this paper indicates activists who have dedicated to labor movements since 1970s, and struggle for social recognition means to fight to acquire recognition in terms of love, rights and values, from members of societies. This paper analyzes the process of their failure and frustration in pursuing passion for recognition. They formed democratic labor unions, as an effort for recognition, and this led to foundation of progressive parties. Nonetheless, they are standing on a crossroad between lethargic and depression, while they are pursuing reformation and revolution. Why is their passion cooled down and depression aggravated? This paper argues various rifts both in internal and external realms of labor activists as critical factor of the failure, and suggests communication to heal the rifts as an alternative.