— Overview
Cooperative labor relations, in this account, rest on respect for people, on dialogue and compromise, and on a joint pursuit of productivity, gain-sharing, and harmony. The same idea is also called partnership, a win-win arrangement, or a high-performance workplace, and it is hard to define neatly. The account dates a shift in the Korean setting. From 1987 to the mid-1990s, union power grew, and confrontation over wages and conditions was the main current.
After the IMF crisis, employment security, unions above the enterprise, growth in the public sector, a wider range of issues, and a stronger pragmatism came to the fore. After the early 2000s, union organization declined, lost workdays fell, and unaffiliated independent unions increased. Enterprise-level unions still predominate. Three cases are named. POSCO is presented as union-free relations, grounded in a founder’s ideology of employees and management as one body, a start as a public enterprise, state support and a monopoly position, and a cycle in which technical development funded high welfare, loyalty, internal promotion, and training.
Yuhan-Kimberly is said to share management information and to join in innovation, with annual turnover of about 0.2 percent — left as the account’s undated figure — and with a sharing of authority, responsibility, and distribution as the basis of trust. Samsung Electronics is described through a labor-management council and various communication systems; what matters, the account says, is whether the internal communication system works, more than whether a union exists.
The principles drawn are fair human-resource practice, equal collective bargaining, and a virtuous cycle of productivity and gain-sharing, with a company’s role in reducing obstacles through education, participation, and wage and performance systems.
— Contents and key concepts
A hard idea, and a dated shift
The opening definition is generous and a little loose, and the account admits as much. Cooperative labor relations rest on respect for people, on dialogue and compromise, and on a joint pursuit of productivity, gain-sharing, and harmony. The same current is also called partnership, a win-win arrangement, or a high-performance workplace. It is hard to define neatly.
The Korean setting is then dated. From 1987 to the mid-1990s, union power grew, and confrontation over wages and conditions was the main current. After the IMF crisis, the accent moved toward employment security, unions above the enterprise, growth in the public sector, a wider range of issues, and a stronger pragmatism. After the early 2000s, union organization declined, lost workdays fell, and unaffiliated independent unions increased. Enterprise-level unions, the account says, still predominate. Those turns are left in their periods, and no later official rate is added.
POSCO, Yuhan-Kimberly, and Samsung Electronics
POSCO is presented as a case of union-free relations. A founder’s ideology treats employees and management as one body. The firm started as a public enterprise, with state support and a monopoly position. Technical development, in this telling, funded high welfare, and a cycle of loyalty, welfare, internal promotion, and training followed.
Yuhan-Kimberly is said to share management information and to take part jointly in innovation. Annual turnover is given as about 0.2 percent, and that figure is left as the account states it, without a year. The basis of trust is a sharing of authority, of responsibility, and of distribution. Samsung Electronics is described through a labor-management council and various communication systems. What matters, the account says, is whether the internal communication system works, more than whether a union exists. The principles drawn from the three cases are fair human-resource practice, equal collective bargaining, and a virtuous cycle of productivity and gain-sharing, with a company’s role in reducing obstacles through education, participation, and wage and performance systems. Those principles are left as they are drawn.
Sources
- an account of cooperative labor relations as respect, dialogue, and a joint pursuit of productivity and gain-sharing, dating a Korean shift from 1987 through the early 2000s, and following cases at POSCO, Yuhan-Kimberly, and Samsung Electronics, without later official rates.
Last updated: 14 November 2026
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