Ir 2

Labor Unions: Ideology, Role, and Function
Labor Union Ideology
Labor unions refer to organized groups with the designation to represent the
grievances and issues of workers from various fields and backgrounds. As such,
their ideologies are rather varied by historical and socio-political settings of
context. These are:
1. Economic Unionism: Economically oriented, seeking better conditions in wages

and working conditions through collective bargaining, with less political
involvement. Examples include AFL-CIO in the US.
2. Social Unionism: Couples political activism along with economic negotiations

with the goal of broad social reforms. Good examples can be seen in Finland and
Sweden.
3. Revolutionary Unionism: Advocates radical social change, normally illustrating

connections to communism or anarchism. For example, France's CGT.
Labor Unions: Functions
Unions offer services like job security, negotiation of wages, and handling
grievances. These unions act as collective insurance for the members. They
organize workers and mobilize them to speak out for better conditions. In this
light, the role of a union takes the form of direct service provision to political
lobbying depending on the context.
Labor Unions Functions
Labor unions primarily deal with collective bargaining, which is important to

obtain good labor conditions. Besides collective bargaining, they also undertake
economic and political activities, such as lobbying for legislation favorable to the
employees.
Types of Labor Union Structures
1. Craft Unions: These are composed of skilled workers from one particular trade,
such as carpenters or electricians. Their primary aim is to curtail the supply of
labor to retain wages high.
2. General Unions: These unions represent unskilled and semi-skilled workers

from different industries. The union tries to achieve minimum living standards
through centralized management.
3. Industrial Unions: These unions organize all the workers within one industry.
Consequently, it enhances the bargaining strength of the workers but sometimes
generates problems on account of conflict between workers belonging to
different job categories.
4. Enterprise Unions: These unions originate within one company. Often, such
unions ensure good cooperative relations between labour and management but
leads to less influence on the whole industry as a result.
Establishment and Operation of Labor Unions
Labor unions in South Korea are established by a notification-based system, and

labor unions submit their constitution to the local authorities. Their constitution
covers the name of the union, objectives, rules of membership, governance
structure, and financial operations.
The decision-making bodies of the trade unions come with a general assembly
and delegate meetings; executive bodies come from elected officials, normally
with a term period not exceeding three years.
Auditory Bodies: Regular financial audits, often semi-annually.
Financial resources mainly come from membership fees, often collected through
payroll deductions in the form of checkoff systems.
Labor Union Trends and Challenges
South Korean labour unions saw a rapid growth in their membership immediately
following the democratization of the country at the end of the 1980s, but their
density has since been in decline. One recent factor behind this decline has been
the legalization of plural unions within a workplace in 2011.
Union Density by Firm Size: The greater the firm size, particularly the ones with
more than 300 employees, the higher the unionization rate at 46.3 percent, while
those firms with less than 30 employees have the lowest unionization rate of 0.2
percent.
Sectoral Differences: Public sector union density is greater compared to the

private sector.
Non-Regular Workers and Labor Unions
Non-regular workers-part-time, temporary, and contract workers-are a structural

and increasingly large part of the labor market but have found many structural
and legal obstacles to unionization. While demand for union representation by
non-regular workers is high, the extremely low actual level of unionization, 3.3
percent, compared with 18.4 percent for regular workers, would suggest an
important mismatch between demand and supply. Employer Organizations and
Their Roles
Employer organizations also hold a very significant position in labor relations.

These, too, are divided into types in the South Korean context, as seen below:
First, there are the Trade Associations and then come the Employer Associations.
Whereas the former deals with broad business issues, the latter focuses on labor
relations and wage negotiations.
Maturity differs significantly among countries such as Sweden and Germany,

which engages employer associations directly in collective bargaining; their East
Asian counterparts act largely as lobbies or member service organizations
specializing in training and legal support.
Role of Government in Labor Relations

The government also plays a very important role in labor relations through the
following ways:
1. As an employer: How the government treats and manages workers in the

public sector is very crucial in labor relations.
2. Establishing the rules of the game in collective relations: through labor

legislation that regulates collective bargaining and trade union activities.
3. Setting standards for employment: Through legislations on minimum wages,

occupational safety and health.
4. Regulating the macro-economic environment: Through fiscal and monetary

policies with implications for the levels of employment.
Case Study: Hyundai Heavy Industries Labor Relations
The case of Hyundai Heavy Industries illustrates the changing dynamics in labor
relations. Labor relations at HHI have vacillated between conflict and
cooperation, and back again to conflict, since the establishment of its union in
1987. This shift indicates greater tensions between regular and non-regular
workers and management strategies.
Conclusion
One can say that labor unions have been integrally instrumental in shaping labor
relations through advocacy for workers' rights, collective bargaining, and
influencing public policy. Yet, the challenges faced in light of the declining union
density, especially in the domain of non-regular workers, and the fragmented
structures remain unalterable facts that continue to shape the topography of
labor relations in South Korea and beyond.

Ir 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ir 2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ir 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Labor Unions: Ideology, Role, and Function

Labor Union Ideology

1. Economic Unionism: Economically oriented, seeking better conditions in wages

2. Social Unionism: Couples political activism along with economic negotiations

3. Revolutionary Unionism: Advocates radical social change, normally illustrating

Labor Unions: Functions

Labor Unions Functions

Labor unions primarily deal with collective bargaining, which is important to

Types of Labor Union Structures

2. General Unions: These unions represent unskilled and semi-skilled workers

Labor unions in South Korea are established by a notification-based system, and

Auditory Bodies: Regular financial audits, often semi-annually.

Labor Union Trends and Challenges

Sectoral Differences: Public sector union density is greater compared to the

Non-Regular Workers and Labor Unions

Non-regular workers-part-time, temporary, and contract workers-are a structural

Employer organizations also hold a very significant position in labor relations.

Maturity differs significantly among countries such as Sweden and Germany,

Role of Government in Labor Relations

1. As an employer: How the government treats and manages workers in the

2. Establishing the rules of the game in collective relations: through labor

3. Setting standards for employment: Through legislations on minimum wages,

4. Regulating the macro-economic environment: Through fiscal and monetary

Case Study: Hyundai Heavy Industries Labor Relations

You might also like