The Separation of Korean Unions

Lee Seok-Che(president of KT) and Kim Gu-Heon (its union leader) adopted the ‘Joint Declaration for Creative New Culture between the Labor and Management’ in March 5, 2010 at Olleh Campus located in Seo-cho dong Seo-cho gu Seoul.

The joint declaration contains ▲ the initiative of corporate value creation & permanent continued peace between the labor and management ▲ efforts of employment stability & exertion of the win-win program for both parties ▲ action of social responsibility ▲ job-creating.

The KT’s labor and management additionally agreed to set up scholarship funds of 400million won for poor students of secondary and high schools. The funds are formed by union dues and company’s donation.

KT union which is one of the largest unions last July withdrew from the Korean Confederation of Trade that has been blamed for the radical movement. There is another moderate unions organization, the Federation of Korea Trade in Korea.

Before this, ‘New Hope Coalition’, the third unions organization, held its inauguration in March 4, 2010 at the Civil Servant Training Center of Seoul City Government, where 120 leaders and executives of 40-odd unions participated. This newly organized confederation includes KT, Hyndai Heavy Industries, Seoul Metro, National Federation of Region Public Corporations Unions, National Federation of Civil Servants Unions, National Federation of Civil Servants Unions of the Local Offices of Education, etc. They adopted the establishing purposes that they would promise a clean labor movement, serve laborers and the people. Especially, they stressed a labor movement trusted by the people, through policies and cooperation rather than physical activities. They stated clearly that they would seek not political purposes and solutions, but practical benefits for themselves.

The conservative is welcoming this separation as an reasonable choice. We cannot know now that the separation leads to sudden nominal loose unions, in fact, similar to a collapse of labor movement in Korea. But it seems certain that the split would accelearte weakening the unions’ solidarity. (The end)