Labor movement of Korea has been pursuing industrial union structure and industry-wide with a view to enhancing cohesion of workers by overcoming company-based union system and strengthening competencies for building organization and making policies b...
Labor movement of Korea has been pursuing industrial union structure and industry-wide with a view to enhancing cohesion of workers by overcoming company-based union system and strengthening competencies for building organization and making policies by gathering financial and human resources of labor movement. Transforming union organization and bargaining structure into those of industrial level also means changing the structure of labor relations. Can the attempt at industrial union and industrial bargaining become successful and change the labor relations of Korea which is one the most polarized in the world? Collective bargaining at metal industry which has been going toward the industrial system is drawing an attention as a catalyst of future development of Korean labor relations system.
company-based and decentralized system of Korean labor relations has revealed many problens such as inefficiency due to frequent collective bargaining rounds at business level and increasing gaps in wages and working conditions of companies. Considering the importance of developing labor relations system that can offset weakness of company-based system, the industrial bargaining at metal industry is highly significant. However, a shift in bargaining structure cannot be facilitated by a simple fact that labor movement is going in that direction. Moreover, industrial bargaining alone cannot solve all the problems related to decentralization. The task will be to develop industrial bargaining in which employer can participate and which can maximize the benefits of such bargaining.
The present study aims at finding measures to develop collective bargaining system of metal industry. In chapter 2, labor unions and employers' organization in metal industry and current status and problems of industrial bargaining are examined. In chapter 3, structural characteristics of collective bargaining in Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States are examined. Building upon analyses of chapters 2 and 3, chapter 4 look into measures to develop industrial bargaining of metal industry of Korea.
Industrial bargaining of metal industry is still at a stage of searching for the better. A great advancement was made by participation of large companies in industrial bargaining and consequent mobilization of large unions into the industrial bargaining. An employers' organization was also established in 2006. However, labor and management still have differing views over selection of bargaining representatives, how to rationalize double bargaining, and bargaining subjects. As bargaining based on large segments of industry is pursued, each industry has different problems. It is still very difficult to set the same working standards for one industry as a whole. We are still at a stage where we cannot be sure whether industrial bargaining at metal industry will take a firm root.
In western countries such as Germany, United Kingdom, and United States, a traditional form of labor unions that of supra-enterprise level and therefore company-based unions as in Korea did not exist. However, collective bargaining takes different forms depending upon countries. Germany has an industrial bargaining where regional bargaining is used as a pattern and the pattern is applied to industry-level. United Kingdom had integrated bargaining based on jobs and industries and experienced decentralization into company-based bargaining in 1960s. United States had pattern bargaining based industries as a major trend in the past. However, increasing global competition attenuated the pattern bargaining and led to differences based on individual companies.
Since 1980s, decentralized bargaining has been a general phenomenon in advanced countries. Nevertheless, Western Europe including Germany still retain industrial bargaining structure. Although expansion of discretion at business level such as "open clauses" can be found in the area, it can be understood as coordinated decentralization in line with historical changes. Of special note is that codetermination system - consultation at business level - is serving as a foundation for industrial bargaining of Germany. As for the United Kingdom, decentralization can be attributed, to a great degree, to the lack of binding power of higher level bargaining towards businesses and resultant lack of motivation on the part of employers to be interested in supra-enterprise bargaining.
Collective bargaining system should be developed by labor and management in autonomous manner. Intervention by the government may cause unexpected distortion. Korea should get out of inefficient distributive collective bargaining model that is repeated every year at business level as soon as possible. Every entities in the society should endeavor to develop collective bargaining system to a higher level. In this regard, stronger roles given to labor relation at supra-enterprise level are desirable. Labor and management should welcome the change. Communication and cooperation between labor and management are also necessary for the change in collective bargaining structure for the better. It is high time for labor and management to pursue win-win strategy.
Based on the above findings, the present study suggest following tasks for development of collective bargaining of metal industry.
First, the legitimacy of labor organization ann employers' organization should be increased for successful industrial bargaining. As shown in the United Kingdom, strong power in company-based union branches weaken supre-enterprise level and decentralize bargaining structure. The task is to get out of labor movement depending on unions of large companies. Effort should be made in labor movement circles but also understanding and assistance of the public is necessary.
Second, improvement of bargaining structure is an imperative task. Collective bargaining and labor-management consultation should be harmonized. Dialogs should be pursued at central, regional, and enterprise levels. A reasonable approach will be to conduct collective bargaining at one level and implement dialogs in the form of labor-management consultation at another levels.
Third, bargaining issues should be rationally selected. The higher the level of collecive bargaining and the wider the coverage of industries, the narrower the bargaining issues. In consideration of the fact that increasing knowledge and information lead to more frequent labor-management dialogs over the issue of supply, it is desirable to widen the spectrum of bargaining issues. A promising alternative is to institutionalize collective bargaining based on industry unit.
Fourth, higher level dialogs should be promoted to discuss measures to develop labor relations of metal industry and bargaining structure should be improved based on result of the dialogs. Labor and management of metal industry may have dialogs to reframe structures for bargaining and consultation. The social pact based on such dialogs may have following agenda: a frame of labor relations where bargaining functions are strengthened at higher level and consultation is given more weight at business level, a Japanese-style consultation system based on industries, gradual action plan to attenuate gaps in wages and working conditions of different companies, and development plans for human resources and career based on industry or type of business.
Finally, laws and systems should be improved in line with industrial bargaining. Measures for the improvement can be considered in terms of passive and active improvement.
Measures for passive improvement may be to deal with the issues such as
① whether the current unfair labor practice system, especially employer's duty to bargain in good faith, can be applied to industrial bargaining, ② guarantee of freedom for union activities at company-based branches of an industrial union, ③ full-time union officials for industrial unions and ④ whether to allow the right to strike to workers who individually join an industrial union and their eligibility to participate in strike vote.
Measures for active improvement may be to deal with ① expanding the scope of the effect of an industrial collective agreement ② how to unify bargaining channels at industrial and enterprise levels, ③ conflicts between industrial collective agreement and branch agreement, ④ allowing employers a right to contest an industrial union and ⑤ limiting independence of company-based branches such as non-permission of registration and right to bargain. It will be desirable to first pursue passive improvement measures and shift to active improvement measures in accordance with labor-management agreement.