In February 2004, Kim Dae-hwan took office as Minister of Employment and Labor. A labor economist who came from the progressive civic group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, he carried high expectations from the labor community. His symbolic status as a scholar from the progressive camp curiously overlaps with the background of Kim Young-hoon, the former chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) who became the first Minister of Employment and Labor under the Lee Jae-myung administration last year. The two ministers share a first commonality in that both took office bearing the support and expectations of the labor community.
The second commonality concerns fixed-term workers. In Kim Dae-hwan's first year in office, the Ministry of Labor spearheaded the introduction of bills that expanded the scope of dispatched worker industries and imposed a three-year limit on the use of fixed-term workers. At the time, the ministry emphasized that capping the previously unlimited employment period for fixed-term workers at three years and inducing their conversion to permanent status would resolve the problem of job insecurity. The labor community countered that what should be restricted was not the duration but the grounds for hiring fixed-term workers. The usage limit was eventually shortened to two years, but the labor community's backlash did not subside. Coincidentally, the Lee Jae-myung administration has also embarked on discussions to reform the fixed-term worker system. Even the pattern of the debate resembles that of 22 years ago. The labor community is voicing concern that the government will once again attempt institutional reform by extending the usage limit. The Ministry of Labor has launched a fact-finding survey to determine the direction of reform.
The tragedy of "a worker's death" at the extreme edge of labor-management conflict has also repeated itself after 21 years. This is the third commonality. On June 14, 2005, Kim Tae-hwan, head of the Chungju regional chapter of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, was crushed to death by a replacement vehicle while holding a joint rally with the union of a striking ready-mixed concrete company. On the 20th of last month, at a rally site in front of the CU logistics center in Jinju, a freight vehicle struck members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Division affiliated with the KCTU during their rally, killing one person. The vehicle involved in this accident was also a replacement vehicle deployed by management.
The fourth commonality is the emergency arbitration order. Kim Dae-hwan invoked emergency arbitration twice — in August and December 2005. Of only four cases in which emergency arbitration has been invoked since the system took effect, two occurred during Kim Dae-hwan's tenure. A strong backlash from the labor community, which insisted that labor-management issues should be resolved by the private sector itself, was a foregone conclusion. Moreover, unlike the Asiana Airlines pilots' union strike, where emergency arbitration was invoked on the 25th day, the Korean Air pilots' union strike saw emergency arbitration invoked just four days in. In the end, labor-government relations broke down, and the labor community branded the Roh Moo-hyun administration an anti-labor regime. The push for the fixed-term worker law, followed by the two emergency arbitration orders, became the spark that drove the labor community to launch a campaign demanding Kim Dae-hwan's resignation.
Whether Minister Kim Young-hoon will invoke emergency arbitration over the strike by Samsung Electronics' union is the biggest point of interest. Although emergency arbitration is the exclusive authority of the Minister of Labor, even Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan has publicly stated the need for an emergency arbitration order. If invoked, the Samsung Electronics strike would be on track for resolution, but the aftershocks would be inevitable. The labor community is already raising criticism that invoking emergency arbitration is a tool for suppressing unions. Concerns are also emerging that emergency arbitration would be merely a stopgap that temporarily papers over the labor-management conflict at Samsung Electronics. However, there is no shortage of counterarguments that, given Samsung Electronics' symbolic significance and the national economy, it is the duty of a cabinet member — the Minister of Labor — not to turn away from emergency arbitration.
Minister Kim Young-hoon, appearing on the YouTube channel "Jang Yoon-sun's Reporting Convenience Store" on the 13th, drew a line on the possibility of invoking emergency arbitration, saying it "must be resolved through dialogue." On the 15th he met with the Samsung Electronics union, and on the 16th with Samsung Electronics management, persuading both sides to return to negotiations. He also met with the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Division, creating conditions to resolve the strike through dialogue with management. Whether he can sever the "final parallel theory" with former Minister Kim Dae-hwan now rests with Minister Kim.
