Other unions could follow suit as the KCTU has been accused of ``politically oriented'' labor campaigns rather than seeking ways to provide better welfare to its members, labor experts said.
. . .
KT said it will maintain political neutrality and concentrate on achieving better working conditions.
In other words, the KT wants to move away from the militant political unionism of the KCTU and go for a more "business" unionism along the lines of the AFL-CIO and Change-to-Win in the USA. The breakup has been mostly fueled by the KCTU's ongoing conflict with the Grand National Party over the issue of temporary workers and calls within the KCTU to go on a general strike in solidarity with the Ssangyong workers who have occupied their factory for nearly two months now. The KCTU has thrown around the idea that management was involved in the decision which would not be a shocking if true.
There have been rumors that the KT, along with other unions that have left the two main trade federations (Federation of Korean Trade Unions being the other), will form a third "moderate" trade federation as an alternative to the current situation. The KT has denied such rumors but it is quiet interesting to see if anything does come out of it.
For the KCTU this is just more bad news for the militant trade federation in Korea. Atleast sixteen other unions have seceded in recent months from the KCTU, leadership has been caught in another major sexual harassment scandal and the lack of action involving the Ssangyong strike has frustrated labor activists. It is a depressing time for those hoping for legitimate reform in the Korean labor situation.
Other news sources:
Dong-a Ilbo
JoongAn Daily
No comments:
Post a Comment