Patience necessary to ensure success of the rule
Workers are now able to create more than one labor union in a single company. The system is in place for the first time since 1963 when iron-man Park Chung-hee banned it. Korea has also honored the advice of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the OECD to introduce the system.
The rule has become effective after three delays in implementation following the revision of the labor law 14 years ago.
The dual-union system is one international yardstick that gauges the maturity of labor movements worldwide. More than two unions will vie to improve the working conditions of their members. It gives workers freedom of choice in establishing a union, and can democratize the way labor unions are run. It will hike the nation’s unionization rate beyond the current 10 percent. It will end the monopolistic position of a single union and upgrade the transparency of corporate management.
It may bring about initial confusion, however. Unions must pick a representative bargaining unit through their own means. A union with a majority membership will represent the bargaining unit unless an inter-union accord is reached. This may overshadow the voices of the minority unions.
The system does not necessarily mean that all companies should have more than one union. It symbolizes the guarantee of freedom in labor associations. In practice, not many companies will have more than one labor union.
Anachronistic employers may feel the temptation to encourage the establishment of a puppet union to weaken the labor movement in a divide-and-rule plot. This is a dangerous idea, which will fan tension between unions, weaken productivity and generate more costs than strikes.
Labor-free conglomerates, including Samsung, CJ, Shinsegae and POSCO, are worried over the launch of unions. Under the system, two workers are necessary to create a union.
There are preconditions for the success of the new system. The role of the state labor commission has become crucial in arbitrating technical but unexpected disputes. It may take time to get accustomed to the new practices.
Labor organizations should take pains to arbitrate labor-labor conflicts, which are sometimes more destructive than management-labor feuds. Employers need the same level of tolerance to put into action the adage that a healthy union is the key to corporate success.
The OECD reported that Korea’s widening income gap is attributable mostly to the increase of non-regular workers, one-third of all employees. Temporary staffers rose to 26 percent of workers, double the OECD level.
The government needs to encourage employers to increase incentives to them until they receive the same benefits as their colleagues enjoy. They are exposed to job insecurity, a widening income gap, excessive work, including working holidays. The multiple-union system could become one feasible solution to ease the plight of non-regular workers. Companies could be given incentives when they reduce the number of non-regular employees. This is a sure way for Korea in promoting welfare and social cohesion in a cost-effective way.
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