Labor Council Research Articles

근로자대표 관련 근로기준법 일부개정법률(안)에 대한 소고

The worker representative system has been expanded as the subject of written agreement and hearing opinions in labor laws, including the Labor Standards Act. Workers' representatives are recognized as important in determining working conditions at workplaces in a situation where the limitations of the traditional working condition determination system are faced due to the low labor union organization rate and diversification of employment types. However, in fact, there are no legal protection regulations for the selection procedure, method, status and activity guarantee of worker representatives, so they are not functioning properly. On October 16, 2020, the Economic, Social & Labor Council announced the results of the Labor-Management Agreement on the Improvement of the Workers' Representation System, and on March 6, 2023, the government announced the legislation of a partial amendment to the Labor Standards Act related to the Workers' Representation System based on the Economic, Social & Labor Council. However, it cannot be said that the government's legislative amendment bill has sought legislative measures in line with the principle of equal working conditions, and legislative reorganization should be prepared to enable equal decisions by labor and management, including when there is no labor union in the workplace based on Article 32 (3) of the Constitution or in light of the basic ideology of equal working conditions in labor contracts. Considering the relationship with the labor union, it is not easy to achieve its legal intention properly without an agreement between labor and management and constant efforts by labor and management to realize the system as originally intended. It will be necessary to seek an institutional search to realize the principle of equal working conditions even under realistic constraints, and giving workers' representatives a role in writing and changing employment rules is also positive in that sense.

The Validity of Objections to Side-line the USA-based Community Reinvestment Legislative Model in South Africa

This article discusses the adoption and the eventual side-lining of the Community Reinvestment (Housing) Bill (CRHB) in South Africa, which is based on the United States of America’s Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA), as a measure to prevent various patterns of redlining in South Africa. It identifies continuing allegations of redlining by financial institutions. It further questions whether the Financial Sector Charter, which was voluntarily agreed upon at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), and the Financial Sector Code, are effective in preventing redlining and the impact of financial exclusion of low-income households. The article discusses several reasons and objections to side-line the CRHB by comparing the context within which the CRA was applied in the USA and the South African context within which a similar legislation will be applied. This article asks whether these objections are still valid and whether the Financial Sector Charter and the Financial Sector Code are effectively enforced to prevent redlining.

Sephardic longshoremen at the Haifa Port (1933-1936): dynamics of skill-selective labor immigration from Thessaloniki to mandatory Palestine

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the Zionist challenges regarding “Jewish labor” through the micro-history of the Salonikian longshoremen on the eve of their emigration from Greece (early 1930s), and during the first period of integration in the Haifa Port (1933–1936). To date, the hegemonic perspective on Salonikian longshoremen has emphasized the immigrants’ crucial role in overcoming the Arab-dominated port labor market. However, while tending to paint a romantic picture of national fervor, this Zionist view obscured the economic, ethnic, and cultural confrontation involved in realizing “Jewish labor”. These multiple forms of confrontation occurred not only between ethnic groups (Jewish-Arab struggle) but also within the local Jewish labor community. Re-visiting the Zionist agenda from the vantage point of both the Salonikian longshoremen and the Zionist establishment enables to present largely neglected aspects of the complex relations between the Sephardic Salonikians and the Ashkenazi/Eastern European-dominated Jewish labor establishment. Due to heavy doubts about the Salonikian commitment to the uphill battle for “Jewish labor,” the Haifa Labor Council excluded the latter from the labor community. Consequently, the cultural marginality of the Salonikians weakened the Zionist vision of uniting all Jewish wage earners into a cohesive working class in the middle of the 1930s.

Reaching into the Community to Interpret Labor History

Reaching into the Community to Interpret Labor History

The Labor Angle: Reflections on the History of the Working-Class and Radical Press

The Labor Angle: Reflections on the History of the Working-Class and Radical Press

УКРАЇНСЬКА НАРОДНА РЕСПУБЛІКА В ПЕРІОД ДИРЕКТОРІЇ (ЛИСТОПАД 1918 – ЛИСТОПАД 1920 РОКІВ) ТА ЇЇ МІСЦЕ В БАГАТОВІКОВІЙ ІСТОРІЇ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ДЕРЖАВНОСТІ

The article reveals the preconditions for the formation and development of the Ukrainian National Republic during the Directory (November 1918 – November 1920) and defines its place in the centuries-old history of the Ukrainian statehood. It is noted that the Directory of the UNR replaced the Hetmanate (Ukrainian State). The Directory proclaimed itself the interim supreme power of the revolutionary era and stated that power in the UNR should belong only to the working classes. Peasants, workers and the intelligentsia were invited to elect delegates to the Labor Congress of Ukraine – the temporary legislative body of the UNR. Considerable attention is paid to the characteristics of domestic and foreign policy of the UNR under the Directory, the formation of higher and local government, the judiciary, the army, as well as the legislation of the UNR under the Directory. In the process of forming the highest state power, the UNR and its basic political principles were restored. Legislative power was to belong to the Labor Congress, but it lasted only a week due to the war. The government was the Council of National Ministers. In the UNR, the Directory decided to create a system of so-called «labor councils» – in villages, cities, counties and provinces, and in the center – the Congress of the Working People. On December 26, 1918, this «labor principle» of the organization of power was specified in the «Declaration of the Ukrainian National Republic», stating that the power in the UNR should belong only to the working classes – workers and peasants, those classes who gained power with their blood, and the non-labor, exploitative classes, which fed on the labor of the working classes, and those who destroyed the land, destroyed the economy and marked their rule with cruelty and reaction, did not have the right to vote in the order of the state. By a majority vote, not only the real exploiters – landlords and capitalists, but also the so-called «non-labor» intelligentsia – doctors, high school teachers, university professors, lawyers, writers, clergy, etc. – were deprived of the right to vote. The notion of «labor intelligentsia», which was granted suffrage, included such categories that directly served the «working people» – nurses, paramedics, teachers of public schools, clerks, etc. Due to the ill-considered radicalism (deprivation of the right to vote), the Directory was left without the support of the majority of specialists, industrialists, officials, without whom the normal existence of the state is impossible. The Directory carried out a number of democratic transformations, in particular, the 8-hour working day had been restored, working control over enterprises had been established; assistance was provided to the unemployed and other needy categories of the population. In the UNR under the Directory, the local administrative power was represented by parish, county, provincial commissioners or atamans appointed by the Directory. It was in their hands that the more or less real power in the province was concentrated. In addition, in some provinces the activity of pre-revolutionary bodies of zemstvo and city self-government was resumed – zemstvo assemblies and zemstvo councils as well as city dumas and city councils. In almost all localities and settlements there were councils of workers peasant deputies formed during the revolution, revolutionary committees, peasants, and others. Commissariats were established under the county commissioners, and departments under the provincial commissioners, which were divided into general, administrative, passport, police, and financial departments. The reasons for the collapse of the UNR in the Directory are identified.

Communists and Community: Activism in Detroit's Labor Movement, 1941–1956

Communists and Community: Activism in Detroit's Labor Movement, 1941–1956

An Interethnic Paradox: Chicago's Irish and Everyone Else

An Interethnic Paradox: Chicago's Irish and Everyone Else

The Ordeal of the Jungle: Race and the Chicago Federation of Labor, 1903–1922

The Ordeal of the Jungle: Race and the Chicago Federation of Labor, 1903–1922

Honoré Saury (1854-1924) : membre de la Société Médico-Psychologique (1886) et médecin directeur à la maison de santé de Suresnes fondée par Gustave Bouchereau (1835-1900), Gustave Lolliot (1835-1882) et Valentin Magnan (1833-1916) en 1875

Originally from the Pyrénées-Orientales like Valentin Magnan (1833-1916), Honoré Saury (1854-1924) was a doctor in 1879. After failing the adjuvate (1882), he became the director of the nursing home of Suresnes founded by Gustave Bouchereau (1835-1916), Gustave Lolliot (1837-1882) and Valentin Magnan (1933-1916). With Joseph Jean Pierre Tarrius (1854-1922), Saury bought back in 1893 the shares of Pierre Saint-Clair de Monribot (1833-1905) who owned a nursing home in Epinay-sur-Seine now belonging to Noble Age Group. After a year, he left this establishment to settle in Paris. In 1898, he invented a medical electrotherapy device: the Voltaphore, which he used in the treatment of neuralgia. While having a liberal activity in Paris, he works in a spa in Enghien-les-Bains. Doctor of the Labor Councils of the Seine department, he was a member of the Société Médico-Psychologique in 1886. The same year, he published a book on hereditary madness in which he studied the mental state of degenerates, episodic syndromes and acute delusions said “from the start” (“d’emblée”) according to Magnan's doctrine. Saury gives the first description in France of psychosis induced by cocaine. He is decorated with the Orders of Christ, Charles II of Spain and the Legion of Honor. Member of the municipal council of Suresnes (1913), he died in Enghien-les bains in 1924.

노동법상 근로자대표제도에 관한 법적 검토 - 최근 경제사회노동위원회 합의안의 내용과 관련하여 -

노동법상 근로자대표제도에 관한 법적 검토 - 최근 경제사회노동위원회 합의안의 내용과 관련하여 -

From the history of the supreme bodies of military administration. Labor and Defense Council

From the history of the supreme bodies of military administration. Labor and Defense Council

ON THE PITFALLS OF A DEVELOPMENTAL STATE

1. Introduction Economic transformation has always been the cornerstone of the governing party since it assumed power in 1994. The notion of a developmental state has since the early 1990s been used as a catch-all phrase for the African National Congress (ANC) thinking on economic and social policies. There is even a subcommittee within the ANC called the Economic Transformation sub-committee, which is seen as the custodian of the ruling party's vision for socio-economic change, as well as offering broad guidelines for a range of policies that have to do with the economy. Over the years since the ANC came into power in 1994, the idea of building a developmental state has continued to serve as an organising principle to frame the nature of change desired by the government. It is a notion that is conceptually ambiguous and lacking in precision with respect to policy application. According to Pempel (1997: 139), developmental states define their missions primarily in terms of long-term national economic enhancement, and they actively and regularly intervene in economic activities with the goal of improving the international competitiveness of their domestic economies. According to this definition, the imperative for managing structural change domestically, for example, improving the growth profile of the economy, diversifying the production base, and generating employment is pursued alongside strategies to promote the country as an investment destination to foreign capital. In many instances, the emphasis placed by the governing party on the notion of the developmental state stresses a more teleological thrust expressed in a certain state of completeness, and usually in reference to the typology of East Asian countries. Beyond rhetoric, it is worth probing what exactly does 'developmental state' mean in the post1990 South African context, a period characterised by increasing global integration and emergence of 'footloose' capital favouring locations where the state is seen as less interventionist. 2. Conceptual map By the time that South Africa started its transition from apartheid to democracy in the early 1990s, the pendulum of economic thinking had shifted globally and strongly towards neoliberal restructuring as an article of faith for economic policy making. This came in the wake of the oil crisis of the early 1970s and the attendant recession of the 1980s. In much of the developing world the state was in retreat, and giving way to a deregulation and liberalising agenda that would presumably stem the crisis. To prove its credentials as a responsible international citizen, South Africa drew heavily on the major themes of the Washington Consensus, in both its pure (laissez faire) and augmented versions (a blending of regulatory features and free markets). Given the centrality, though, of the trade unions in the struggle for liberation, and their closeness to the new governing party in South Africa, measures such as flexible labour markets were ignored in favour of a much tighter legislative regime that included the Labour Regulation Act of 1995 and a welter of worker-friendly measures that followed, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and Employment Equity Act, amongst others. Trade unions, especially through the association of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) with the governing party, were deeply embedded in the post-apartheid economic policy formulation. This was facilitated by the informally structured tripartite alliance summit that also included the South African Communist Party (SACP) as well as through the more formally structured National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) that came into existence in 1995. While the broader macro-economic policy framework was crafted in a way that was sensitive to international capital, the more specific and sectoral policy arrangements were oriented more closely to trade unions as a powerful political constituency of the governing party. …

GENDER POLICY AND LEGISLATION DURING THE FIRST 20 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY

1. Introduction South Africa's progressive legal framework, which provides for both the protection and promotion of the rights of and attempts to address their historically disadvantaged and subordinate position, has been hailed by both politicians and scholars as one of the country's success stories. Central to this is the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), which gives unprecedented rights, particularly in its Bill of Rights (chapter 2). In addition, the Constitution makes provision for a Commission on Gender Equality (chapter 9) to promote the attainment of and respect for gender equality. (1) Numerous laws have also been promulgated to ensure that proactive measures are taken to protect women's constitutional rights. (2) Labour laws are specifically 'women-sensitive'. The Labour Relations Act of 1995 (section 203(2)) makes provision for Codes of Good Practice. Such a Code on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases was issued in 1998 by the National Economic Development and Labour Council. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 (amended in 2002 to include the domestic worker sector) guarantees, among other things, maternity leave, job security during pregnancy, minimum wages, housing and health care for previously excluded groups, such as domestic workers, while the Employment Equity Act of 1998 includes as a 'designated group' to which affirmative action measures apply. In addition, the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act of 2003 (2) demonstrates its commitment to black in its aim to increase the ownership and management of existing and new enterprises and increasing their access to activities, infrastructure and skill straining. In the socio-personal realm, important legislation includes the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996 (which recognises women's right to abortion without the consent of another person), the Maintenance Act of 1998, the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act of 1998, and the Domestic Violence Act of 1998 (which defines violence as encompassing various forms of abuses and gives broad power to courts to shape the conditions of a protection order). The introduction of gender machinery (structures in the state mandated with monitoring legislation and policy for gender equality in line with the Beijing Platform for Action, article 201), championed by the National Women's Coalition (NWC) in the early 1990s, has also been noted as a significant milestone in the quest for women's rights in South Africa's early years of democracy. Hailed as one of the most advanced and integrated structures in the world (Gouws 2006: 143), it consisted of a set of which the Office of the Status of Women (established in 1997 and located in the President's Office) formed the apex with Gender Focal Points (GFPs) in National and Provincial Departments at the operational level. The Commission for Gender Equality and the Parliamentary Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women (JMC) formed the other components of the 'gender machinery'. However, although placing equality on the statute book does serve a normative function, it does not inevitably lead to a change in lived experience. Thus, despite the above robust legal achievements, actual implementation of these measures has not readily occurred (Fester 2004). Notwithstanding women's empowerment on paper and the removal of de jure inequalities, economic and social injustices have to a large extent remained deeply entrenched within the broader societal framework (Hames 2006: 1317). In addition, it has been argued that despite the nuanced gender rights 'culture' on paper, still comprise the majority of the poorest and most marginalised in South Africa, and that patriarchal power underlies the marginalisation of women (Bentley 2004: 248). Several scholars have also pointed to the potential tension in the Constitution in which the Bill of Rights (chapter 2) on the one hand preserves gender equality, but simultaneously guarantees the protection of chieftainship and respect for traditional authority (chapter 12). …

Day of Freedom as a Sign of Leaving the “Lost Time” Behind: Ukrainian Alternatives for March 1917

The onset of the February Revolution in 1917 in the Russian Empire was the time when the organized structures of the Ukrainian movement in the Upper-Dnieper Ukraine were almost completely destroyed by the tsarist repressive apparatus. The outbreak of World War One ceased the legal release of the Ukrainian press; deactivated Ukrainian political, cooperative, educational establishments; sent a number of acting Ukrainian figures into exile, including M. Hrushevsky, the well-known leader of the then national movement. Due to the occupation of Galicia by the Russian Army and its explicit terror against the nationally conscious citizens, Ukrainians lost their “home front”, which had previously served as the base for the effective political, educational, and cultural activity in terms of the Austro-Hungarian Constitutional regime. That cluster of reasons led to the fact that in late February – early March 1917, in the general whirl of rapid transformations, Ukrainian demands were ignored by the new government which came to power after abdication of Nicholas II, as well as new bodies of revolutionary self-organization, formed of labor councils and soldier deputies. The situation in Kyiv seemed even more complex since the Russian administration paid special attention to controlling the city which had a potential to become the epicenter of national revival. Imperial colonizers were confident in the irreversibility of their preponderant position; thus, the formation of the Ukrainian Central Council on March 4, 1917, its initial demands being too cautious and conciliatory, did not raise any anxiety among Russian powers. The situation began to change after M. Hrushevsky had returned to the capital of the Upper-Dnieper Ukraine: on March 14 he had his first time chairing a meeting of the Ukrainian Central Council, rapidly transforming it thereafter into a lead Ukrainian revolutionary actor. This was well proved by the First Day of Ukrainian Freedom, which took place in Kyiv on March 19. A 100-thousand demonstration vividly testified Ukrainian power and gave impetus to the unfolding of the national liberation revolution, which naturally resulted in the declaration of the ultimate independence of Ukraine.

ILO 핵심협약 비준 관련 논의 경과와 과제

이 글은 국제노동기구(ILO) 제87호 협약과 제98호 협약 비준에 수반한 국내 노동관계법 개정을 위한 논의를 위하여 설치된 경제사회노동위원회 노사관계제도･개선관행위원회(이하 ‘위원회’)의 설치, 구성, 논의 경과, 논의의 한계, 향후 전망을 다루고 있다. 노사정 및 공익위원으로 이루어진 위원회는 ILO 제87호 협약 및 제98호 협약 비준을 위하여 필요한 법개정 사항을 식별하고 개정 방향을 제시하는 것을 목적으로 하고 있었으나, 수차례에 걸친 회의에도 불구하고 이에 대한 합의에는 도달하지 못하였다. 이 글에서는 위원회 구성의 의의, 쟁점사항, 공익위원안이 도출된 경위, 의미 및 한계, 공익위원안에 대한 노사의 반응 등 관련 경위를 상세하게 검토함으로써 향후 ILO 핵심협약 비준과 국내법 정비를 위한 시사점을 모색하고자 하고 있다. 이 과정에서 노동관계법 개정을 위한 타협과 합의를 위한 사회적 대화는 ILO 핵심협약 비준이라는 분명한 목적에도 불구하고 정부의 의지나 전문가의 노력만으로는 부족하고 사회적 파트너인 노사의 전문 역량과 함께 노사단체의 확고한 조직상 의지가 선행되어야 한다는 것을 확인할 수 있다.

Questionamentos sobre o fazer-se da Justiça: TRT 7ª Região, Fortaleza, anos 1940 e 1950.

O artigo é parte de uma pesquisa de doutorado sobre a Justiça do Trabalho e os Trabalhadores em Fortaleza. Objetivando investigar a Justiça do Trabalho e sua atuação no mundo do trabalho, e como os trabalhadores travaram lutas na arena jurídica para assegurar seus direitos trabalhistas, é que nos propomos analisar fontes processuais do arquivo do TRT da 7ª Região, nos anos 1940, quando da instalação do Conselho Regional do Trabalho – CRT, até os anos de 1950, período em que esses processos questionadores das decisões judiciais deixaram de existir. Buscamos fazer uma análise depurada dos dissídios individuais e coletivos, de pessoas físicas e jurídicas, questionando a morosidade nos julgamentos, a escolha de juízes vogais, contra o descumprimento do acordo pela parte patronal, dentre outras situações que colocavam em dúvida o fazer-se da Justiça do Trabalho no âmbito local. A pesquisa elucidou os meandros da Justiça do Trabalho na cidade de Fortaleza, revelando os conflitos que engendraram sua formação e solidificação ao longo dos anos, sendo ainda hoje referência de luta dos trabalhadores.

Public sector employment relations after the crisis: A comparative case study analysis of UK local authorities

Through a comparative case study analysis of the restructuring practices of six large UK local authorities, this article finds that although macro-level fiscal pressures are a trigger for cutbacks clear differences can be found between local level restructuring ‘bundles’. These differences are explained by the local power dynamics between politicians, trade unions and management. A radical marketisation approach of outsourcing and hostility towards the trade unions at one Conservative-controlled council is contrasted to a political partnership approach at two Labour councils which delivered a living wage and minimised job losses and outsourcing. Two ‘hybrid’ models of incremental marketisation and pragmatic partnership saw the remaining councils trying to balance cost minimisation and stable employment relations by making more incremental changes. However, the cumulative effect of repeated cutbacks could yet prove to be transformative for the public sector.

Recent discussions on the Flexible Work Hours agreement of the Economic, Social & Labor Council - Including the contents of the flexible work hours system under the current Labor Standards Act -

Recent discussions on the Flexible Work Hours agreement of the Economic, Social & Labor Council - Including the contents of the flexible work hours system under the current Labor Standards Act -

Les résultats et les limites du tripartisme statutaire et non statutaire dans le secteur minier sud-africain

Unresolved problems in South African mining, particularly on gold mines, are enmeshed within the system of production through mining methods and labour practices entrenched by apartheid. This system sets the parameters for, and hence limits and constrains, strategies designed to improve occupational health and safety. This chapter explores the achievements and limitations of statutory tripartism in mining as practiced under the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA), in the context of social dialogue in the National Economic and Labour Council (NEDLAC) and other statutory and non-statutory tripartite forums. The term statutory tripartism refers to the institutions and forums for social dialogue established in law. Non-statutory tripartism refers to ad hoc forums in which stakeholders deliberate on specific issues. Presented as a detailed case study in which issues are explored thematically, the chapter benefits from the experience of the lead authors in statutory mine health and safety structures. The authors reflect on the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) role to date and its future role, at a time when prospects for a broad social compact remain out of reach. While key discussions often take place outside of formally established tripartite structures, the ILO’s vision of authoritative social compacts and its institutional forms find expression in many settings. The ILO was important at critical junctures in the past and a continued role in championing social protection, inclusion and dialogue is foreseen. South Africans themselves must, however, find agreement on how best to address systemic issues. The practice of tripartism remains relevant to creating an inclusive and more equal society.