• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.109-142
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• 2018

This paper aims to analyze the Award wage system in Australia for construction workers. Considering low wages and precarious employment situation of construction workers in general, it is of advantage especially for them in Australia. Furthermore, it seems to be instructive for Korean construction workers, who stand in more precarious and unstable situation and furthermore are lack of fair wage and social safety. After strong and longstanding labour struggle in the late 19th century in Australia, it has been established a tripartite institution called as 'tribunal' between trade unions, employers, and the government. Under the highly institutionalized form of industrial relations, it functions as an arbitration and conciliation system between labour and management. The Award wage system stands in the middle point. This Award wage system including various welfare provisions is settled by the tribunal, today renamed as Fair Work Commission. In this wage system should be defined level of minimum wages according to the various skill levels, which are in turn connected with compulsory superannuation and Medicare as well as vocational education and training. Furthermore, it provides especially for the construction workers, who suffer from job instability, so-called 'portable benefits', which relate to long service leave and redundancy pay. Considering general conditions of precarious construction workers in Korea, In that respect, the Australian Award wage system would be very instructive for our social wage and safety system for construction workers.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.113-150
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• 2017

This study analyzes how workers become impoverished and have their jobs less stabilized after they suffer from non-job-related sickness. Given that South Korea lacks sickness benefits, which most of OECD member states legislate and implement except US and Switzerland, this study examines its impact on laborers' job stability and povertization in Korea. The researchers have conducted in-depth interviews with nine former or present laborers who have the experiences and four experts on the issue in July-September, 2017 for the qualitative analysis. It is found that laborers, after becoming aware of their sickness, at first endure their pain without informing their employers not to lose their jobs. The attititude is observed especially among non-standard laborers, because sickness more often leads to job loss for them than for standard laborers. After workers have to leave their jobs due to their sickness in the end, they have no choice but to keep working in less stable jobs to compensate for income losses. They become gradually impoverished with their social capital like family bond declining. We observe laborers who are eligible for industrial accident insurance compensation could not benefit from the system because some employers refrain from the legal reporting duty. Due to this illegal practices, some industrial accident victims unduly lose their jobs due to "non-job-related sickness". Second, some employers report to the authority that their sick laborers have left their jobs 'voluntarily' even when they have quitted it without their volition, in which case the newly unemployed are not eligible for unemployment benefits. Large holes in Korea's safety nets for those suffering from multiple risks of sickness and unemployment.

• 한국사회정책
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-29
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• 2017

This study compares and analyzes precarious labor market in Korea and Japan in terms of gender and occupational class. Previous studies have analyzed precarious labor limited to the level of employment type such as non-standard workers. This study reconceptualizes precarious labor in terms of the combination of employment relations and income level. In addition. we analyzed whether there are differences in the characteristics of precarious labor between Korea and Japan. In order to analyze the labor market precariousness in Korea. we used data from the 17th Korea Labor Panel Survey (2014) and for Japan. we used the 9th (2012) data from the Keio Household Panel Survey. As a result. we could confirm the feminization of labor market precariousness and horizontal division by occupation in both Korea and Japan. Also. ordered logistic regression analysis showed that the more women. and those in their 60s or older. the less skilled service workers. or the manufacturing workers are likely to face labor market instability in both Korea and Japan. The results of this analysis reflect the fact that Korea and Japan have experienced similar changes in the labor market structure with institutionalized employment protection system based on male workers.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.247-291
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• 2018

This study investigates the employment structure and the social safety net experience of the subcontracting cleaning workers in Korea, who have been main targets of the labor outsourcing despite the necessity and permanence of their labour. This study specifically focuses on the fact that these subcontracting cleaning workers are mostly female and in their old age, and analyzes how the combination of their age, gender, and employment structure leads to the (mis)match with the Korean social security system. Case study with in-dept interview method has been conducted to the old-aged female subcontracting cleaning workers in Korea. The result of this study is as follows. It was the income insecurity that led them to (re)enter the labour market, and the cleaning work was the almost the only wage work they could do considering their age and gender. Cleaning workers are mostly employed in the subcontracting company, and thus their labour contracts depend on the business contract period between the original and subcontracting company. Consequently, their employment relationship is mostly insecure unless they are guaranteed employment succession through the collective agreement of trade union. Moreover, it has been discovered that the employment insecurity due to the indirect employment relationship led to the poor labour conditions, low wage, and the exclusion from the social safety net.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.677-688
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• 2022

Precarious employment is negatively associated with mental health including depression. The aim of the study is to suggest the multidimensional definition of precarious employment and examine its impacts on depression. Using the fifth save of the Korean Working Condition Survey, we first measured six different dimensions of employment precariousness: temporariness, disempowerment, vulnerability, difficulty exercising rights, unpredictability of working times, and low wage. All of six precariousness indicators consisted of a scale from 0 to 100. Then, we conducted logistic regression to examine the association between employment precariousness and depression. For men, the risk of depression increased by 3.1%, 1%, and 0.5%, respectively, for each one point increase in vulnerability, difficulty in exercising rights, and unpredictability of working times. For women, the risk increased by 0.5%, 2.3%, and 0.8%, respectively, for each one point increase in temporariness, vulnerability, and difficulty in exercising rights. Our findings suggest that not only a secure employment contract, but also their substantive labor rights should be guaranteed for health for workers.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.95-136
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• 2018

As the number of precariats grows, their poor labor rights and working conditions are becoming issues of major concern all over the world but how to represent their interests is still controversial. Basically, the union is the institutional mechanism for representing the labor rights. However, it is difficult for workplaceand enterprise-based unions to fully represent the labor rights of precarious workers. Recently, so-called community unions have emerged in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan as independent organizations representing the rights of non-standard workers. Community unions refer to labor unions which organize precarious workers across firms at the regional level. They are known to be suitable for covering the unemployed, job seekers, indirect employment workers, short-term contract workers, and small-firm workers. In South Korea, since the financial crisis in 1997, a dramatic increase in the number of precariats leads to emergence of new types of trade unions such as the Youth Community Union, the Arbeit Workers' Union, the Artist Social Union and the Korea Musician's Union. They have engaged in various activities to guarantee the labor rights of precariats. Recently, researchers have also tried to identify defining characteristics of these new forms of unionism. To expand research on trade unionism in South Korea, this study compares two different types of community unions: the Youth Community Union and the Arbeit Workers' Union. We believe that this attempt can contribute to the research on the alternative labor movement. For this purpose, this study starts with theoretical discussions on community unions, and compares the Youth Community Union with the Arbeit Workers' Union based on the five characteristics of community unionism: membership and organization structure, the recognition struggle, the type or scope of interest, solidarity with other civic organizations, and the repertoire of resistance strategies. Based on this comparative analysis, this study seeks to foresee the possibility of how community unionism will develop in South Korean in the future.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.197-227
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• 2018

This article aims to analyze some conditions for the reinforcing social security rights of atypical construction workers, and their socio-economical effects, and furthermore, to explore political measures for compliance with obligation of the four basic social insurances. Although the construction industry is one of the pivotal industry sectors, which contributes to the economic development, it is a typical industry sector, half of whose manpower is atypical and irregular. This kind of reality results especially from its own sectoral features and employment structure. We will argue that our society needs political measures for compliance with obligation of the basic social insurances for the construction workers, and it would help the reinforcing social safety net of the precarious construction workers, and furthermore enhancing competition in the construction industry. For this purpose, we will suggest concrete conditions for compliance with obligation of the basic social insurances and prove its positive socio-economic effects. In the end, we will propose some detailed measures like direct construction, introduction of the prevailing wage, etc. for this politic approach.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.169-200
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• 2008

노동계급은 다양한 형태의 내적 이질성을 지니고 있으며, 신자유주의 경제정책과 구조조정 과정에서 고용형태에 따른 이질성은 계급균열로 발달하며 노동계급 내적 이질성 논의의 핵심을 구성하게 되었다. 국내의 선행 연구들도 정규직과 비정규직 사이의 물질적 존재조건의 양극화 추세와 사회적 관계의 위계적 배제적 성격을 확인해 주고 있다. 하지만 정규직과 비정규직 사이의 계급균열이 극복되고 노동계급의 내적 통합과 계급형성 과정을 이룰 수 있는지에 대한 논의로 발전하지는 못했다. 본 연구는 계급균열의 극복과 노동계급 통합의 가능성을 검토하기 위해 계급균열의 핵심인 비정규직 노동자 문제를 둘러싼 정규직 비정규직의 의식 수준의 비교연구를 실시한다. 본 연구는 민주노총 공공운수연맹 노동조합원들에 대한 설문조사와 심층면접 연구를 통해 계급균열의 존재를 확인하고 그 원인과 의미를 분석하였다. 첫째, 정규직과 비정규직 노동자들은 비정규직 문제에 대한 인식을 공유하고 있지만 구체적 해결책에 대해서는 입장 차이를 보임으로써 고용형태에 따른 계급균열은 존재하며, 경제위기 이후에도 해소되지 않고 고착화되고 있음을 확인시켜 주었다. 둘째, 고용형태에 따른 계급내적 균열이 비정규직 문제 인식과 추상적 원칙 수준에서는 유의미한 의식 차이를 보이지 않지만 비정규직 문제 해결을 위한 구체적 해결책에 대해 유의미한 입장 차이를 보이는 것은 정규직과 비정규직 사이의 물질적 이해관계의 차이 때문이다. 정규직 노동자들은 비정규직 노동자들의 고용안정성과 노동조건의 개선을 허용하더라도 자신들의 이해관계가 위협받지 않는 수준에서 이루어져야 한다고 보는 것이다. 셋째, 정규직 노동자들이 추상적 원칙 수준에서는 비정규직 노동자들과 동질성을 보이지만 구체적 대안에서 차별성을 보이는 것은 정규직 노동자들의 의식의 양면성을 표현하는 것이며, 물질적 이해관계에 기초한 개인적 수준의 합리성과 계급적 원칙에 기초한 계급적 수준의 합리성이 갈등하고 있는 것이다. 넷째, 정규직 노동자들의 주관성 속에서 개인적 합리성과 계급적 합리성이 갈등하는 정도는 노동조합 가입 여부 및 소속 노동조합의 정체성, 즉 이익집단 정체성 혹은 계급조직 정체성에 의해 결정된다. 여기에 계급조직 정체성을 지닌 민주노조들이 노동계급 계급균열을 극복하고 계급형성을 이루는데 기여할 수 있다는 실천적 함의가 있다.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.95-123
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• 2001

One of the most pronounced phenomenon among the changes in the 1990s' Korean labor market is the growth of the share of temporary and daily workers. Yet, it is still not clear exactly how the phenomenon should be interpreted. In order to look into the phenomenon, the paper introduces various definitions of employment status based upon multi-dimensional classification criteria and estimates their sizes using the EAPS Supplemental Survey of August 2000 by the National Statistical Office of Korea. According to the data set, the share of temporary employment by the OECD standards is 17.6% which is higher than most European countries but not far away from them unlike some popular claims. Further, it is shown that the high proportion of temporary and daily workers among the employees, currently above 50%, is possibly due not only to the increased employment instability but also to the widened differentiation among workers in terms of fringe benefits such as the retirement pay and social insurances.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.203-226
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• 2010

Using the Korean Welfare Panel Study, this study examines the labor-market activities of uninsured persons and discusses policy implications for reforming the National Pension Scheme in Korea. First, despite the short observation period, the data show that pension status is not a static state and can be better understood in terms of dynamic processes. Second, in addition to frequent changes in income-earning activities, complex criteria for pension coverage cause substantial transitions in pension status. Third, a portion of uninsured persons involve in income-earning activities but they tend to face poor working conditions as well as unstable employment. Overall, this study suggests that building solid foundations for developing a financially sustainable and reliable social protection system is more important than rapid increase in pension coverage.