Against Flexibilization: South Korean Unions Battle Against The Expansion Of Irregular Work

By Jamie Doucette

The fight against the expansion of irregular work to wide segments of the Korean workforce entered a new phase last week with the postponement of a series of government-initiated bills expanding the terms and conditions under which companies may use non-regular workers.

The "Non-Regular Workers' Protection Law," which was expected to be passed in the April extraordinary session of the National Assembly was postponed till the next extraordinary session in June. The new law is comprised of three different bills on the protection and use of temporary workers, 'dispatched' workers (workers hired as casual or contract workers through staffing agencies), and a revision of the National Labor Relations Committee's labor arbitration process.

Following several months of protests, the bill was postponed after talks failed between labor and management groups participating in tripartite meetings that included South Korea's two largest labor union confederations, government officials, and management groups.

According to the Korean International Labour Foundation, the two unions had demanded that a strict definition be drafted that clearly articulates the circumstances under which fixed and short-term contract workers can be hired. The unions also stated that companies should not be allowed to hire irregular workers if their reasons are insufficient or if they plan to employ them for over a year. In addition, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) voiced its concern over the termination of staffing contracts as a punitive measure against trade union organizing -a practice that the KCTU would like to see made illegal -- and pressed for the regularization of casual workers who have already been employed for a total of more than two years. Employer's groups, however, have only agreed to a tacit limit on non-regular employment and have demanded that those now on a contract for less than three years be exempt from such restrictions, and those who have worked for more than three years only be provided with protection against dismissal, rather than regularized as employees.

In response to the government's continuing efforts to introduce bills on labor market reform without guarantees of workplace equality or basic labor rights, the KCTU is calling for stronger international monitoring of Korean labor practices and for other activists and trade unionists to support the KCTU in their struggle against the proposed bills. As part of the strongest labor movement in East Asia, they believe that their struggle can play a significant role in developing solidarity against the flexibilization and the expansion of irregular work that they see as a new hallmark of capitalist globalization in South Korea and across industrialized countries in general.