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SESSION FOUR: THE EFFECTS OF GLOBALISATION ON WORKERS AND TRADE UNIONS
When: 18:00-21:00, 27 March 1999
- Where: seminar room of a coffee shop in downtown of Seoul
* Before the seminar, participants of Korean ISC
joined the workers’ rally organized by KCTU, in which workers and students demanded
the employment security, economic transformation, reduction of working hours and objection
to IMF. And before starting the discussion, participants shared their feelings of the
rally and evaluated it.
1) We discussed the similarities and differences of the
instruments of globalization in other countries.
- Similarity
: privatization programs against main national
companies, finance and trade liberalization, deregulation of foreigners’ direct
investment.
- Difference
: IMF demanded the legislation of
layoff system and the government accepted it. IMF and TNCs intended to
control capitalists, that is to say Chaebols as well as unions in Korea in order to
dominate the Korean domestic market and weaken the competitiveness of Chaebols in
global market. The Korean government used the demand from IMF as means to
reform economic system based on Chaebols.
2) And then we discussed the strategies against the
Structural Adjust Program (SAP) as follows:
- In Korean context, we should demand the re-negotiation of IMF’s
SAP. Since the late 1997, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and popular movement
demanded the re-negotiation of SAP to IMF and Korean government.
- It is critical for Korean unions to form the international
solidarity front to revise the SAP and democratize world bank groups such as IMF
through international union bodies.
- In East Asian context, Korean labor movement should form the
anti-IMF front with other Asian countries such as Philippines, Indonesia and
Thailand that have suffered from the SAP at level of national center.
- Korean labor movement should try to democratize the Korean
politics, economy and society. In order to increase the influence of union movement, the
organizational system in Korean trade unions should be transformed from enterprise-level
into industrial level.
3) And then we read the study material and
discussed "the effects of globalization on workers and trade unions" as follows:
- Weaning Unions
: Due to the factory closure, lay off,
increasing unemployment, union density is decreasing (about 11% in 1998). Conflict and
division between workers has come to very serious problem (regular/irregular, male/female,
younger/elder, big enterprise size/small and medium enterprise size, etc). Unions have not
been able to develop the strategy and policy to cope with the situation of economic
crisis. For this, the political, economical and social influence of union movement has
been being weakened and unions has lost workers faith and support.
- Dismissal of workers
: In February 1998, the introduction
of lay off due to managerial reasons was legislated. Hundreds of thousands of workers have
been dismissed by managerial reasons since December 1997. In the first half of this year,
unemployment marks record high at 2 million. Unemployment rate hit over about 8%. Last
year, in the process of restructuring in banks and financial sector, tens of thousands of
workers were dismissed. In Hyundai Motors, about 10,000 workers were forced to
leave their workplaces in the name of voluntary retirement. Also, other main Chaebols
expelled their workers from workplaces in the name of restructuring and competitiveness.
Additionally, the government is propelling the retrenchment of civil servants in central
and local governments.
- Unequal distribution of Wealth
: average monthly income
per a household was reduced from 2.29 million won to 2.13 million won by – 6.7% (1
USD = 1,200 won). The rich are richer, the poor are poorer (see last page in report 3).
Most workers experienced wage cut by about – 10% during one year from 1997 to 1998.
Even in this year, capitalists are trying to stick to wage freeze or wage cut. But, assets
and profits of Top 5 chaebols such as Hyundai, Samsung, LG, Daewoo,
SK have been increasing even in economic turmoil.
- Job Insecurity
: It is estimated that the proportion of
irregular/casual/temporary/atypical workers amounts to about 50% and this will be more and
more increasing. Considering this figure, we can say the Korean labor market is highly
flexible. Furthermore, most collective bargaining has implementing at level of enterprise,
not industrial level. Especially, female workers are more vulnerable to dismissal or job
insecurity due to the managerial reasons.
Concerning Session 5
When: 19:00 – 21:00, 21st April 1999
Where: conference room in KLSI
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