User:Samyunshaun/sandbox

Background
After the liberation from the Japanese in 1945, and the subsequent coup d’etat in 1961, by General Park Chung Hee, there existed only one legal trade union federation in Korea, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU). Park’s regime was truly authoritarian, to the extent he suppressed all political and business leaders they deemed corrupt. In essence, he arbitrarily restructured the unions and permitted only those he and his regime regarded as “loyal” to their cause. As a result, for almost two decades under the military regime of President Park, FKTU was substantially weakened and became subordinate to the repressive state and capital, the family owned conglomerates or chaebol, who dominated and monopolized the industries in Korea who incessantly expanded with the help from the government. Hence, the labor movement became very fragmented; nevertheless, they operated through localized unions, such as the miners, textile workers, anti-political activists, and various Catholic groups. By the 1990’s, with the demise of the military regimes, chaebol groups of Korea began to reassert themselves with the introduction of automation production processes, decentralized factory location of production sights, and began to relocate the production to overseas, exacerbating the situation even further. Gaining Strength and Support To sever the relationship from the FKTU, whom many regarded as the proxy of the government for their subordination to the military regimes, various national federations of the chaebol-based unions emerged, including the Kia and Hyundai Group, as well as regional unions, such as the Masan and Changwon Unions Association. Moreover, in the public sector, the National Teachers Union was formed in 1989, to counter the authoritarian system of education in Korea. However, many trade unions felt the need to consolidate and overcome the fracture nature of the trade unions at the national level. As a result, they formed a national organization, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) in 1995. And subsequently, their membership increased from 861 unions and 391 000 members in December 1995 to 896 unions and 490 000 members in December 1996. And almost immediately, the KCTU proved to be a formidable force, they became the vanguard of the workers and the indispensable “check” to the power of the state, employers, and the FKTU.

Rise of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
Despite the internal struggles and factionalism of KCTU, their methods nonetheless were extremely effective. In the early 1990’s, there was a shift from domestic growth to national competiveness, one of the major economic policies of Korea became “growth first, and distribution later.” To counter this model, the unions adopted the popular policy of “strike first, bargain later.” Stated differently, Korean workers used strikes as a weapon to seek political change, better working conditions, and for higher wages. In 1996, a significant event occurred that would catapult the KCTU to both national and world stage. The New Korea Party, led by President Kim Young Sam, unilaterally passed and amended labor laws without the presence of the opposition party in the middle of the night, in a six minute session. In essence, the amended laws made it significantly easier for the employers to lay off the workers at will. Moreover, the amended laws did not allow the multiple unions at either at the local or at the national level; thus, making KCTU with its 500,000 members illegal and would not be recognized until 2002. These provisions prompted the KCTU to successfully mobilize 150,000 Korean workers and FKTU leaders, who previously displayed a pro government propensity to strike together. As a result of the government’s arbitrary decision to stifle the laws, President Kim Young Sam and his administration was censured by the OECD in their failure to honor the reforms which were promised to the people of South Korea and, for displaying “backwardness” with respect to labor law reforms. Additionally, international community including, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and International Metal Workers Unions both criticized and condemned the actions of the Korean government. Similarly, the foreign union representatives held joint news conferences with Korean unions, closely observed the strikes, and held various demonstrations outside Korean diplomatic missions abroad. Despite the overwhelming rebuke from the International Community, the South Korean government chose to adhere to their initial decision and even threatened to arrest the strikers. It’s been estimated that, the three weeks strikes cost $3.4 billion in lost production. President Kim Young Sam, recognizing the growing support of the KCTU by the people, decided to revise the laws and to meet with the oppositional leaders. In March of 1997, parliament passed a more diluted version of the labor laws and the President's chief economic adviser, who was the protagonist of the earlier laws, was fired along with other advisers. At the end, President Kim in a meeting with the opposition leaders stated that, the KCTU would be legalized.