[Editorial] Strikes Harming Korea

The illegal nine-day sit-in strike by a POSCO subcontracting company’s workers was ended voluntarily yesterday after hurting the industry. The sit-in reportedly cost POSCO 200 billion won by causing disruptions in 24 operations. There is also considerable intangible damage to the company, such as a decline in international reliability and credit standing.

In Ulsan, unionized workers of the Hyundai Motor Company have been staging a strike since June 26. The on-going strike led to more than one trillion won in losses. Hyundai Motor’s labor union has conducted walkouts for 19 years, except just one year, ever since its foundation in 1987, producing a loss of 323 days and more than 10 trillion won in sales.

Behind those unionized workers is the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), which drives the militant and radical labor movement. In Ulsan and Pohang, the KCTU’s behavior was reckless even for the labor movement. The labor union of the subcontracting companies targeted the company which contracts work to them. It is not a negotiating partner.

The KCTU Ulsan Chapter held an unprecedented boycott to affect the local economy after local merchants and industrialists protested its strike. Worse yet, the labor union went so far as to demand the Ulsan city government, a self-governing body, oppose a Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. The union staged such a “mutated strike,” demanding something far from in line with the labor movement.

Currently, only 10.6 percent of the 14.53 million workers who can join a labor union are unionized. Furthermore, only 668,000 workers, or 4.6 percent, are a member of the KCTU. This means that the KCTU does not represent the workers. The radical and political labor struggle by the KCTU hinders many people in maintaining and securing their right to work, rather than helping them get job security and find a new job. The union violates people’s “right to work” which is guaranteed by the constitution. This makes one wonder if the “labor aristocrats” do not know that crumbling businesses and economies would damage themselves and their family.

There is no labor union which pursues similar lines as the KCTU elsewhere. With the tide of globalization, countries are focusing on enhancing their competitiveness. Also, with labor forces becoming increasingly cheap and moving freely, labor unions are showing restraint. However, the KCTU uniquely undermines corporate competitiveness by frequently stopping operations and staging rallies on the street. To raise its voice further, the umbrella union is engaged in making industrial unions, instead of corporate unions.

So far, the government has just declared a “firm response” to illegal strikes and protests, but has not done anything firm. President Roh Moo-hyun even directed, “Do not seek a claim for damages against the railway union” in 2003 when the railway union went on a strike. He sent a wrong message to corporations and labor unions right from the start of his taking office. Corporations have also turned a blind eye to illegal strikes, being mindful of the government and labor unions. Against this backdrop, POSCO CEO Lee Ku-taek’s decision to seek civil and criminal charges against strikers who instigated the illegal occupation of its headquarters and damaged the company`s property is highly regarded.

The government should establish the principle of rule of law by bringing justice to those responsible for illegal behavior in this incident. Corporations should maintain the “order of industrial field” by sticking to the principal of a no-work, no-pay policy and seeking civil and criminal charges against losses. Various sectors of society should weaken the illegal behavior by people’s power. That is a self-help measure for people to free themselves from the “the republic of labor unions.”