Trade unions in Asia
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea
IndustriALL Consultant
industriallyoon@gmail.com
Relationship between workplace
unions and global unions
workplace
NonUnionised
Workplace
No union
National
Center
ITUC
Industrial
Federations
Independent
Union
(in-house)
or Unions
Workplace
unions
Global
Unions
India
• Workers (2005): 464.3 million
• Trade unions (2005):
– 68,544 registered unions (but, only 7,812
union “returned” to government)
– 24,601,589 registered members (but, only
6.97 million members belonging to
“returned” unions to government.
– On average, 893 members per a union
(73.2% male members and 26.8% female
members)
National Centers
1.
All India Trade Union Congress (Communist Party of India),
established in 1920, 3.36 million members as of 2002.
2. Indian National Trade Union Congress (Indian National Congress),
established in 1947, 1.54 million members, as of 2002
3. Hind Mazdoor Sabha (socialists), established in 1948, 3.33 miollion
members, as of 2002
4. Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh),
established in 1955, 6.21 million members, as of 2002
5. Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Communist Party of India (Marxist)),
established in 1970, 2.67 million members, self claimed in its
website
6. All India Central Council of Trade Unions (Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist) Liberation)
7. All India United Trade Union Centre (Socialist Unity Centre of India
(Communist))
8. New Trade Union Initiative (Independent from political parties, but left)
9. Labour Progressive Federation (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)
10. SEWA
11. Trade Union Coordination Committee (All India Forward Bloc)
12. United Trade Union Congress (Revolutionary Socialist Party)
Characteristics
• Pluralism: political division and ideological diversity
• The existence of militant labor movement
• Decentralized union structure and bargaining structure: the
increase of in-house unions (company unionism) and
independent unions
• Poor manpower and finance of upper-level unions
(Industrial federations), poor function in supporting
workplace-level unions activity such as collective bargaining
• Excessive politicization of union leaders: poor capacity and
corruption of some leaders
• The deepening and spread of company unionism and only
company-level bargaining
• Language barriers: English, Hindi, Tamil
Indonesia
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Workers: 114.5 million
Worker in formal economy: 30 million
Unionized workers: 3,414,455 members
Main national centers (confederations)
– KSPSI (1.5 million with 17 industrial federations – Confederation of
ALL Indonesian Workers’ Unions)
– KSPI (600,000 members with 9 industrial federations – Confederation
of Indonesian Trade Unions, established in 2003)
– KSBSI (380,000 members with 13 industrial federations –
Confederation of Indonesia Prosperity Trade Unions, established in
1992)
• Only 39 out of 90 industrial federations belong to the main three
confederations
• The number of trade unions: 11,766 unions, including 170 state
company unions
• There are 10,659 collective agreements.
Characteristics
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Indonesia ratifies all the 8 ILO fundamental conventions.
The split of the trade union movement (3 confederations and +
@@@)
Union structure and collective bargaining based on company
unionism
The prevalence of wage confidentiality among unions
Poor quality of collective agreements: mainly focusing on
economy interests rather than workers’ collective rights, even
including company policy against workers and union members
Poor manpower and finance of upper-level unions (industrial
federations), but comparatively active and powerful activity and
function by upper-level unions in ASEAN countries
Active and strong workers struggle since the collapse of military
dictatorship in the late 1990s: for example, 1-day general strike
with 2 million workers to demand the increase of minimum
wage, the protection of precarious workers (CAL workers), and
better social insurances.
Malaysia
• Workers: 12 million
• Unionized workers: 803,405
• Single national center: Malaysian Trade
Union Congress (MTUC)
– 500,000 members
– 244 affiliates
• 20 national unions
• 224 regional or company unions
Foreign (migrant) workers
• Importing foreign started in 1992 only in plantation and
construction sectors
• Expanded to industrial or manufacturing sectors in 2000.
• Allowed in every industry and sector in 2002.
• There were over 2 million of foreign workers registered to
government in 2007. it was estimated that there were more
than 1 million of foreign workers, not registered.
• Over 30% of Malaysia workforce is foreigners
• Main sending countries: Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, India,
Pakistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines
• The distortion of labor markets and the spread of low-wage
structure
• No union member
Characteristics
• Strong intervention and interference by government (against the
freedom of association)
• National unions are based on “intentionally fragmented or
divided” industries or sectors (by government)
• The spread of company unionism, pushed by government and
employers since the early 1990
• Only company or factory-wide collective bargaining. There is no
sector or industry-wide collective bargaining. but, collective
agreements are signed by national unions, excluding ordinary
members (union bureaucracy or corruption)
• Too many foreign workers, resulting in the challenges to the trade
union movement in organizing and bargaining
• The issue of union democracy and transparency
• Lost militant or struggling spirit of trade unions
• Language problems: English (only 4 million can speak English,
shockingly only 80,000 use perfect English)
Thailand
• Working population: 37 million
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state/public sector: 3.23 million
private sector: 8.89 million
information economy: 23 million
foreign workers: 470,000
Thai workers working overseas: 2 million
• Unionized workers: 516,000 (Thai government 2007)
– State-owned companies: 180,500
– Private sector: 335,600 (in 1,258 trade unions)
• 18 industrial federations, 1 federation of stateowned companies, 12 labour Congresses, 8 regional
union councils
Characteristics
• There is no systematic connection between workplace-level
unions and upper-level unions
• Poor coordination and poor cooperation among upper-level
unions
• Poor manpower and resources of upper-level unions (no office,
no full-time union officers)
• Poor role and function of upper-level unions in supporting union
activities at workplace level
• Company unionism and company-limited bargaining
• the historical legacy of feudalism in Thai politics, society and
culture
– Split between Yellow Shirts and Red Shirts
– Language problem: “dialogue”, “collective agreement”, “employers”,
“employees”
• Excessively confrontational labor relations and mistrust between
employers and employees, very common union busting
Vietnam
• Workers: 13.5 million (2011)
– state/public sector: 4.2 million
– Private sector: 9.3 million (including 1.9 million
working in foreign companies)
• Vietnam General Confederation of Labor
(VGCL)
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20 industrial unions
63 provincial-level federations of labor
7,727,178 members (as of June 2012)
113,402 unions at workplace level
Characteristics
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Trade union activity under the guidance of communist party
Rich and plentiful manpower and resources of upper-level unions (fulltime officers, building, facilities, vehicles): the historical legacy of
socialism
Poor experience and knowledge on labor relations and union activity of
capitalist economy
Lack of understanding on union role: playing the role of “mediator”
between workers and employers, rather than defending workers rights
and interests (trade union officer or public servant?)
Lack of independence and democracy from party, government and
employers
The problem of dual positions of union leaders (union officers, at the
same time high-ranking managers)
Company-level labor relations and bargaining are dominant
Abnormal union structure: provincial federations are more powerful than
industrial unions; the legacy of socialism
the existence of trade union “organizations”, but the non-existence of
labor “movement”
Problems
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Low union density
Company unionism and company-based bargaining are dominant.
Non-existence of industry-wide labor relations
Poor quality of collective agreements: little articles for the freedom of
union activity, some articles against workers (sanction, discipline)
Political split of trade union movement in India, Indonesia and Thailand
The deepening and spread of precarious work
Poor quality of information disclosure and consultation: wage
confidentiality
Poor conditions for union activity: paid union leaders, union office inside
factory, paid time for union activity
Poor manpower and resources of upper-level unions
Poor coordination and advocacy among upper-level unions, and by
upper-level unions for workplace-level unions
Anti-union government, also daily union busting by employers
Tasks
• Organizing and unionization
• Expanding of bargaining agenda and improvement
of collective agreement
• Overcoming company unionism (in-house unions)
• Strong manpower and resources of upper-level
unions
• Active role and function of upper-level unions
(organizing, collective bargaining, engagement in
policy making of government)
• Protecting and organizing contract and agency
workers (precarious workers)
• Solidarity and unity of labor movement