Labor — English Posts — 국제전략센터/The International Strategy Center

Fighting the 24-Hour Workday

We thank Jun and Yolanda for sharing home care workers struggle to end sweatshop labor in New York City. Homecare workers are arguing that the attack on their rights will spread to other industries, but it’s also true that it’s spread to other countries, as we are seeing with the South Korean government’s attack on migrant care workers rights. Home care workers have shown that we must move beyond trade union consciousness to a genuine mass movement that organizes workers where they live and where they work, grounded with an analysis of US imperialism and global capitalism.

ISC ArticlesInternational Strategy CenterMay 28, 2024Labor

Who Drove the Martyr Yang Hoi-dong to His Death?

On May 1, May Day, a construction worker set himself on fire. The crackdown of the construction union by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration drove Yang Hoi-dong to his death. His death is the social murder of the Yoon Suk-yeol government.

Illegal multi-level subcontracting is rampant, and delayed/unpaid wages ongoing. Construction workers who have struggled to change construction sites, which relegate worker safety to the background, demanding to be treated with respect as workers and technicians, are being cornered as/ turned into criminals accompanied by extortion threats at regular intervals. Since January of this year, there have been 13 seizures and searches, 15 arrests, and 950 union members subpoenaed for investigation. The massive crackdown against the construction union has taken the life of the martyr.

ISC ArticlesInternational Strategy CenterMay 30, 2023Labor, labor rights

69-Hour Workweek for Whom?

In the end it is a policy that represents the interest of the capitalists. From a global perspective, the Korean work hours are already very long, so it would not be feasible to formally extend them further. As a result, the government presented their flexibilization as a workaround. The government presented “mutual consent on working conditions”, but without a labor union’s power to defy the employer, this would obviously be a consent in name only. According to the information released by the Ministry of Labor last December, the union membership rate in Korea is only 14.2%, with 2.93 million members. It is only clear that working hours would increase under paper-thin consent in smaller, non-unionized workplaces. This increase in working hours serve only to increase the profit of capitalists. The availability of profit is limited under currently allowed working hours, and in the cutthroat competition between capitalists, securing additional working hours would be a godsend.

Policy ResearchInternational Strategy CenterMarch 29, 2023Labor

Going to Meet History

Recently, I joined the ISC’s Labor History Tour, and felt lucky that I could learn and connect to this city and country through living history. Having taught English in Jeollabuk-do before moving to Seoul, it can feel daunting to foster a sense of connectivity to a massive hive of grey high rises compared to a more countryside experience.

ISC ArticlesInternational Strategy CenterDecember 28, 2018labor rights, Labor, Jeon Tae-il, teacher's union'

Occupy the Blue House

I had already seen the line of tents on the sidewalk before while driving past the Blue House and didn’t think they were different from the ones I saw circling the U.S. embassy.

ISC ArticlesInternational Strategy CenterDecember 28, 2018labor rights, Labor, teacher's union', Jeon Tae-il

GM Korea a Sacrificial Lamb for Dine-and-Dash GM: Our Union’s Fight for Another Five Years

GM Korea and its union reached a tentative agreement on April 23, one hour before the deadline to file for court receivership (the first step in declaring bankruptcy).

Publications, The [su:p], Korean NewsInternational Strategy CenterApril 27, 2018Korea, USA, union, GM, Labor, labor rights, worker's rightsComment

Labor Reform: Easier Layoffs, Lower Wages, and More Irregular Workers

ISC ArticlesInternational Strategy CenterOctober 31, 2015Labor, Jeon Tae-il, reform, FKTU, KCTUComment

International Headlines: Economy

• Greek Reform Plan Criticized
• California Labor Commission Ruling Deals Uber a Potentially Huge Setback
• IMF Study Says Inequality Is Hurting Growth, Calls For Wealth Redistribution
• Why Is HSBC Leaving Brazil and Turkey?
• At Fight for $15 Convention, A Call from Clinton but Little Talk of Union