Korea hits bottom in workers' rights

By Kim Se-jeong

Korea is among the worst countries for workers’ rights, according to the Global Rights Index (GRI) from the world’s largest labor representative body.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) divided countries into six categories after evaluating how they respected labor rights and implemented protective programs for workers.

Out of 139 countries surveyed, Korea was among 24 countries placed in the category of “No Guarantee of Rights,” the second-worst category, it said.

The results were made public in Berlin on May 19 where the ITUC held its congress.

The countries in the same category as Korea are China, India, Nigeria, Greece, Turkey, Malaysia, the Philippines and Egypt.

Denmark and Uruguay were among 18 countries in the top category. Denmark’s working conditions are exceptionally good, according to the GRI.

Eight countries in the worst category had a systematic problem of no rule of law. They included the Central African Republic and Somalia.

The index accumulated rights violation cases that occurred between April 2013 and March 2014.

The ITUC said the surveyed countries were ranked against 97 indicators, “to assess where workers’ rights are best protected, in law and in practice.”

The press release quoted ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow as saying, “A country’s level of development proved to be a poor indicator of whether it respected basic rights to bargain collectively, strike for decent conditions or simply join a union at all.”

Park Sung-shik, the spokesman for the Korean Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU), said the survey results came as no surprise.

“It is only a confirmation that there is very little respect for rights of workers in Korea. I hope the result will be a fresh reminder to businesses and the government that we really need to change.”

Temporary employment is one of the biggest ongoing labor issues in Korea.

Government statistics shows the number of part-time workers is almost 30 percent of all workers on payrolls. In March, the figure was six million, an increase of 179,000 from the same month last year.

Park said the actual figure may be as high as almost 50 percent.

The captain of the sunken ferry Sewol, facing a murder charge for having abandoning the ship, was a part-time worker.

Prohibiting civil servants including teachers from collective action, and laying off railway workers for going on strike, are also against the international norm, recognized by the ITUC in the report.