Number of Strikes Drops Markedly
The number of labor disputes increased on a year-on-year basis last year, but the number of workdays lost to them dropped significantly.
The Ministry of Labor said that statistics reveal that labor-management relations are showing signs of stabilizing.
More specifically, there were a total of 121 strikes last year, about a 12-percent increase from the 108 strikes in 2008. Of these, some 93 percent, or 112, involved workplaces affiliated with the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the more militant of the two umbrella groups here. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) saw only seven of its affiliated workplaces involved in a strike.
Last year's lost workdays were tallied at some 626,000, marking a 22.6-percent decrease from 2008.
"Last year, most of the strikes were over work-related issues such as employment security and company reorganization," a ministry official said, explaining why there was a reduction in the number of lost workdays despite the larger number of strikes. "This is in contrast to ideology-based strikes, which tend to last longer.
Thirty-two strikes in 2009 were related to union opposition to company-led reorganization efforts, representing a 68-percent increase from the previous year.
Currently, all but nine strikes have been settled.
Despite the ministry's explanation, however, the image of the nation's militant labor movement has not greatly improved, with one glaring example being the violent protest by fired workers of Ssangyong Motor at its Pyeongtaek plant. The workers staged a 77-day siege, during which a number of workers and policemen were injured.