SA Labour Bulletin Vol 26 Number 1 . February 2002

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

Labour internationalism at a turning point

Sakhela Buhlungu and Eddie Webster report on how the 'war against terriorism
' sparked a controversial and potentially divisive debate during the sixth
congress of the Southern Initiative on Globalisation and Trade Union Rights
(Sigtur) held in Seoul, South Korea.

The congress held in November 2001 marked a turning point not only for
Sigtur but for the international labour movement. The congress brought to
the fore some underlying tensions between the unions of the so-called 'South
'. It became clear in the
course of the congress that the South is not a homogeneous category. This
surfaced most dramatically when the Australian
delegation tabled a draft resolution condemning terrorism in the US. This
resolution was tabled alongside a draft from the Korean Confederation of
Trade Unions (KCTU) and from the Central Unica dos Trabalhadores (CUT).

There was much common ground between the various drafts. All participating
unions unequivocally condemned the terror attacks on the US, arguing that
terror can never be a weapon of change, no matter how deep the injustices.
However, a deep divide arose on the issue of US foreign policy. On the
surface it appeared as if all national unions, except Australia, were highly
critical of US foreign policy in the South, many drawing from direct
experience of overt and covert military activity and the dominance of
multinational corporations (MNCs). So while the Australians were critical of
the US involvement in Afghanistan, other delegations viewed their
contextualisation of the present conflict as being weak and at odds with
their experience of the US in the South. During this debate undertones of
racism emerged between the so-called 'white' Australian trade union movement
and unions representing 13 other countries of the South such as Brazil,
India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philiphines etc. Later in the congress, Cosatu
made a critical intervention that resolved these differences. The importance
of the Cosatu intervention lay not simply in the fact that it led to a joint
statement on this torturous issue, but that it opened up the possibility of
the Australian movement developing a deeper understanding of what is
actually happening in the South. The Australian delegation became more
keenly aware of the actual experience of organised labour in the South.

Redefining the South

Sigtur as a network organisation of the South, has always defined the South
in political and economic terms rather than
geographic, the latter making no sense in this era of globalisation. This
discussion on war and peace and the global role of the
US surfaced questions as to whether Australia and New Zealand are part of
the South in any other than a geographical
sense? This is a tantalising question and quite ironic in view of the fact
that Australia was involved in initiating Sigtur
in the early 1990s. Certainly both societies have witnessed the rapid
erosion of the gains of social democracy over the past
decade, with organised labour being the central focus of the attack. Now
conditions in a large part of the Australian
clothing industry are no different to those endured in the rest of the
South. Much of manufacturing is moving out of Australia
to other countries in the South with less developed labour conditions. The
Australian movement has a strong material interest in participating in
Sigtur, given its involvement in the South (South, Southeast and East Asia).
There is no question that there is a grouping of countries, largely in the
southern hemisphere, who are marginalised in the global economy.
Furthermore, for too long the international trade union movement has been
defined in Europe and North America and often reflects the concerns,
the organisational models and modes of political access of western
countries. Social and economic issues specific to
developing countries have frequently been ignored and marginalised.

While the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has a
presence in Asia, Africa and Latin America,
it was clear from the Sigtur congress that globalisation is impacting in
specific ways on certain countries. If these countries are
to develop a successful strategy to challenge their position in the new
world economic order, then forums such as Sigtur are vital. The sixth
congress marked the first time in its ten years of existence that Sigtur had
met in a non English-speaking
country. Furthermore, for the first time the largest and most innovative
labour movement in South America, (CUT) from
Brazil was represented. In addition to the long-established trade unions in
India (the All-Indian Trade Union Congress, AITUC and the Congress of Indian
Trade Unions, CITU) and in Australia (the Australian Congress of Trade
Unions, ACTU) the big three 'new' federations in the South (CUT, Cosatu and
the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, KCTU), were present. Sigtur had
last met in Johannesburg in October 1999, a month before the
antiglobalisation protests in Seattle in November.

The Seoul congress provided Sigtur with an opportunity to redefine its role
in the light of the emergence of the growing antiglobalisation movement.
Indeed, on the second day of the congress the delegates from the 14
countries represented in Sigtur were asked to identify whether an
antiglobalisation movement existed in their country and to describe their
relationship
towards it.Delegates concluded that in all countries represented at the
congress an anti-globalisation movement had emerged in which labour was a
central actor. The significance of this growing social alliance between
labour, other social movements and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) was
underlined by the fact that the congress was held in a country at the centre
of the contradictions generated by neoliberal globalisation.

Korea

On the one hand, Korea is very much' 'connected' to the North and is part of
the new informational capitalism. They have a
developed economy and are members of the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD). Korean
multinationals, such as Samsung, Hyundai and Daewoo, are highly successful
global players at the cutting edge of the electronics industry. The use of
miniaturised consumer electronic goods such as cell phones, computers and
cameras is widespread. Korean companies also dominate globally other
industries such as ship building. In many ways it is the developing world's
economic success story. However, Korea is also quite 'disconnected' from the
developed North. The legacy of the Cold War persists and is illustrated by
the presence of 40 000 US troops. Korea remains sharply divided within
itself - the capitalist South versus the communist North. It is virtually
impossible for people to cross the tightly controlled demilitarised zone
that divides the two. Although there have been significant moves towards
democratisation, Korea is not yet a liberal democracy. KCTU president, Dan
Byung-Ho, and dozens of other union leaders are currently in jail. Civil
servant workers do not have trade union rights. We attended a rally of 10
000 civil servants in Seoul who were campaigning for trade union
recognition. Some public sector workers do enjoy trade union rights. Other
public sector workers in essential services are allowed partial labour
rights. A representative from the Public Service International spoke at the
rally. He pointed out that one of the conditions for Korea's membership of
the OECD was that it should abide by the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) convention on freedom of association.

Disconnected

Arguably, the most striking illustration of Korea's 'disconnectedness' is
that of language and culture. Very few of the 46
million Koreans speak English - the language of globalisation. Equally
importantly, very few non-Koreans speak the Korean language. Furthermore,
the Korean language and alphabet are completely different from those of its
larger neighbours, Japan and China. This has led Korea to be isolated from
many of the global cultural currents. We were struck by the distinctiveness
of the Korean culture: its ritualistic, formal, hierarchical and patriarchal
form. It still tends to be group-centred and more collectivist in nature
than western culture. In part its success economically is attributable to
the role the state played in fostering economic development. In fact
elements of the developmental state are still present through the chaebols,
multinational conglomerates owned by a small number of families which enjoy
state support for export led economic development. However when the state,
in the late nineties, began to withdraw support from some mismanaged
chaebols, foreign investors pulled out. This precipitated large-scale
restructuring, retrenchments and a phenomenal growth of contingent (casual)
employment, reversing the Japanese tradition of life-long employment. We
were struck, however, by the fact that virtually all the motor cars on the
road are Korean and we wondered how open the Korean economy really is!

Social movement

At the centre of the challenge to this restructuring process is the Korean
labour movement. The democratic labour movement in Korea dates back to 1987,
a period of mass mobilisation and strikes known as the 'hot summer'. In 1995
these democratic unions formed the KCTU. From its inception the KCTU adopted
a militant approach to both the state and to employers. The driving force of
this militancy is the youth, who effectively draw on traditional rituals and
popular culture such as drumming, local pop music and working class songs.
There exists considerable similarity between the social movement character
of the KCTU, CUT and Cosatu. All three federations have built their
organisational base in the state led industries that emerged under
authoritarian regimes in the sixties, seventies and eighties. Intellectuals
were crucial in providing support for the development of these federations.
In Korea, the Korea Labour Education Association (KLEA) was formed in 1986.
It focused on providing an educational service for workers. It was
transformed into the Korean Labour and Society Institute (KLSI) in May 1995,
and widened its focus to include research and the analyses of policy. These
intellectuals were active in the formation of the new unions after the 1987
nation-wide strike, called in Korea the 'Great Workers Struggle of 1987'.

They helped the new unions to organise, bargain and set up their
administrative structures. This grouping of intellectuals
was, and still is, especially important in providing educational support,
including books and materials. All three countries lack adequate social
infrastructure leading these unions to articulate broader social goals and
form alliances with movements struggling for democracy.

Significantly in all three cases the youth were centrally involved in
building this form of social movement unionism. Unions have existed in Korea
since the 1890s and were active under Japanese colonial rule. Many of these
unions were committed to communism. After national liberation from Japanese
colonial rule in August 1945, those Korean unions which had a socialist
vision formed a national centre with 500 000 members. But in South Korea the
US-backed military government and right-wing Korean political groups, with
the help of gangsters, crushed these unions and replaced them with an
anti-communist
trade union movement. This was the origin of present Federation of Korean
Trade Unions (FKTU).

The FKTU was tightly controlled by the state under the military
dictatorship. Indeed, it could have been described as a
form of state corporatism. Although the FKTU still exists and is the largest
union grouping with 900 000 members and 28
industrial-level affiliates, it is increasingly being challenged by the new
unions and has, in recent years, adopted relatively
progressive policies.

KCTU
The KCTU has 600 000 members and 16 industrial-level affiliates. Its central
role in the struggle for democracy in Korea, as
well as its growing opposition to state supported restructuring, has led it
to initiate its own politics. In January 2000 the KCTU participated in the
formation of a working class party, the Democratic Labour Party (DLP).
Although it has limited electoral support, the DLP's significance lies in
the emergence of an independent working class political response to
neoliberal globalisation in the South. However, one should not exaggerate
the strength of the Korean labour movement. Union density is extremely low
(approximately 12%). A majority of unions remain enterprise-based and there
is no centralised industry-wide bargaining. Attempts were made by the
government to establish a tripartite labour council in January 1998. In
February 1998 the representatives of the three parties in the council
reached agreement. However, three days later at a congress of the KCTU, a
majority of the delegates rejected this agreement. But, later that year the
KCTU decided to rejoin the council. Finally in 1999, the KCTU congress
decided to withdraw from the council when it became clear to them that the
council was
a mere 'toy telephone'.

The KCTU recognises these weaknesses and is eager to learn from other labour
movements. This is why they hosted the
Sigtur conference. In particular, they look to Cosatu as a model of
successful union organisation in the South. We were
surprised to discover at the KLSI numerous copies of Cosatu's 1997 September
Commission Report translated
into Korean. At a KLSI seminar we participated in a session on trade union
developments in Korea, South Africa and
Brazil. We were questioned intensely on the different strategies adopted by
labour in South Africa towards capital and the
state. Many labour activists in Korea are still debating questions of reform
versus revolution. Afterwards in informal discussions over dinner, the
Koreans showed a detailed knowledge of labour and politics in South Africa,
asking
penetrating questions such as what residential areas of Johannesburg Cosatu
leadership live in and what motor cars
they drive!

A new form of labour internationalism

What was of interest to us was the way in which workers in the South seem to
be experiencing the impact of neoliberal
globalisation in similar ways. In addition to its impact on the workplace
through retrenchment and casualisation, privatisation is leading to a crisis
in the reproduction of labour itself. The reduction of public expenditure in
areas such as health, education and social welfare, as well as the
decentralisation of financing to communities and families, is leading to
widespread poverty and social exclusion.

There is an increasing use of child labour, school dropouts have increased
dramatically, families have broken, and so have the numbers of suicides
increased among workers and employers alike. Interestingly, delegates from
the different countries reported on the rise of new social movements around
such issues as rent evictions, electricity cut-offs and lack of access to
public health. Discussions among delegates highlighted the fact that the
labour movements in the different countries represented at the congress had
raised the most significant challenge to their governments' neoliberal
social and economic policies - from Brazil to Zimbabwe, Taiwan and Korea!

The 6th congress of Sigtur in Korea demonstrated the need for such a forum.
What form this should take, and how it should relate to established
international trade union structures, remains to be seen. What was clear to
us is that globalisation has opened up opportunities for a new form of
labour internationalism. This internationalism takes advantage of the
network nature of globalisation, drawing on the new information technology
to provide workers with instant and direct access to each other. This has
the potential to complement traditional union bureaucracies, opening up the
possibility of a more participatory and campaigndriven internationalism.

Sakhela Buhlungu and Eddie Webster are academics at the University of the
Witwatersrand and are linked to the Sociology of Work Unit (Swop). We would
like to thank Rob Lambert, coordinator of Sigtur, and Yoon Hyowon, a member
of KLSI, for their valuable comments and additions to this paper.