The transformation of labor force dualism in South Korea’s Shipyards, 1974 to the present

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10253151
AutoresMinhyoung Kang (0000-0002-8494-0328, Johns Hopkins University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2021
Volumen62
Número3
Páginas276-296
Fecha de publicación2021-05-04
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLabor History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0023-656X • E-ISSN: 1469-9702
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0023656x.2021.1908525
OpenAlexW3155821056
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas37

This article examines the historical evolution of labor force dualism at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). The proportion of precarious workers at HHI reveals a U-shaped curve over time, with its nadir in the late 1980s. There has been a transformation at HHI from dualism without inequality before 1987 to dualism with inequality after the mid-1990s. Before 1987, HHI management pursued dualism but inequality did not widen because wages were kept low for both regular and non-regular workers. Dualism without inequality at HHI disappeared in the aftermath of the 1987 labor upsurge as a result of working-class solidarity around the demand for eliminating precarious employment. However, the decline in dualism was short-lived. To achieve industrial peace while simultaneously reducing labor costs, HHI management pursued a strategy of micro-corporatism that involved granting concessions to regular workers while controlling wage increases for non-regular workers. The consolidation of this dualism with inequality was facilitated by the concurrent rise of business unionism. Finally, this article outlines conditions favorable to renewed class-based labor solidarity that have emerged at HHI recently, opening up the potential for a new round of successful workers’ struggles against workforce dualism

Ancient history · Dualism · Economics · Political science · Shipbuilding · Shipyard · Theology · Transformation (genetics · Asian Industrial and Economic Development · Employment and Welfare Studies · History · Labor Movements and Unions · Philosophy