Applying U.S. Research on Labor Union Membership Participation to South Korean Unions: An Assessment

Abstract

The dynamic and organizationally complex, South Korean labor movement presents a unique opportunity for studying union membership participation. The uniqueness of this opportunity suggests that research designs which are adopted from U.S. research for researching South Korean labor unions should be consistent with the organizational complexities of unions, the labor law, and the culture of employment relations in South Korea. The dual image of South Korean labor union organization which is developed in this paper helps to reconceive U.S. concepts of union membership participation, union democracy and union bureaucracy for the South Korean labor movement. The dual image of South Korean labor union organization is also helpful for developing hypotheses about the determinants of membership participation inside South Korean labor unions. In light of the unique attributes of the dual image of South Korean labor union organization, U.S. research designs should be modified in order to pursue several enduring, interdisciplinary research themes about the character and determinants of union membership participation in South Korea. These themes conceive of the labor union as a socializing institution, as an opportunity structure, as a community, and as a stratified working class organization. Developing research designs which capture the unique attributes of the South Korean labor movement will enhance the theoretical and policy implications of the research results, as well as facilitate cross-national, comparative research on labor union

membership participation.