This study aims to analyze the Korean construction worker's organizing process and their labor movement. This article has introduced 1) the labor market in construction business centering on industrial characteristics, employment system and production...
This study aims to analyze the Korean construction worker's organizing process and their labor movement. This article has introduced 1) the labor market in construction business centering on industrial characteristics, employment system and production structure, 2) the industrial relations focusing on collective bargainings, 3) the labor movement's progress and the Korean construction workers' organization through labor regime change by period.
Comparative analysis shows that the multi-level collective bargaining structure and multi-layered production system lead to the utmost conflict between labor and management in Korean construction industry. Without intervention market forces are likely to cause the multi-layered subcontract production system in construction industry. However, in other countries like Germany, Australia, Sweden and Japan, the tripartite negotiations make the subcontract structure as simple as possible. Even if there is a multilevel subcontracting production structure, the problems are resolved through the centralized industrial negotiations, in which all the workers and employers from prime contractors and subcontractors participate. They also provide the safety net for the non-regular employment.
At first Korean construction workers succeeded in building a negotiation model in YeoChun immediately after the 1987 labor struggle, in which both prime contractors and subcontractors participate together. However this kind of model did not spread across the contry, where as the PhoHang model, in which the prime contractors do not take part. dominated the construction industry. Since then, the inherent problems, caused by multilevel subcontract production system, have been causing recurrent conflicts up until now. Korea construction workers have been developing their class identity and have shown progress in labor organization. But they did not succeed to make a device to solve the problems, caused by the industry specific multilevel subcontract system, through negotiations and struggles with the government and the employers.